The High Court has issued a rule questioning the legality of the new tariff schedule introduced by the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) following a writ petition filed by the Bangladesh Container Shipping Association (BCSA).
After an initial hearing on October 21, a High Court bench comprising Justice Qazi Zeenat Haque and Justice Ainun Nahar Siddiqa directed the respondents to explain why the notification introducing the new tariff should not be declared illegal and void.
Barrister Mohammad Farrukh Rahman, supreme court lawyer and head of Rahman’s Chambers, represented the BCSA during the hearing.
The court also instructed the senior secretary of the shipping ministry and the chairman of the CPA to address the contents of BCSA’s letter dated October 14 within 15 days.
In that letter, the association had sought the immediate cancellation and withdrawal of the new tariff schedule.
Barrister Farrukh Rahman said that a rule has been issued calling upon the respondents to show cause as to why the impugned statutory regulatory order – No. 364-2025 – dated September 14, published in the Bangladesh Gazette, and the impugned circular dated September 30 issued by the chief finance and accounts officer should not be declared to have been made without lawful authority and to be of no legal effect.
The respondents – the senior secretary of the shipping ministry and CPA chairman – are directed to dispose of the letter dated October 15, issued by the BCSA within 15 days from the date of receipt of the notice.
After that, the court will hold a full hearing on the legal merits of the case. Although the court did not grant any interim stay – meaning the new tariff remains in force – the question of its validity has now entered judicial scrutiny through this rule, Rahman added.
The new tariff schedule came into effect on October 15. According to the BCSA, the revised structure has caused an abnormal rise in port operation costs, increasing them by nearly 70 percent on average. The association alleged that the tariff hike process was flawed and violated the statutory notice period stipulated under the Port Act of 1908.
The BCSA, which represents shipping agents handling about 90 percent of the country’s containerised cargo, argues that the increase was imposed without sufficient justification or transparency.
The tariff hike sparked protests from various trade bodies, leading to a temporary halt in import and export operations at the port when transport owners and workers went on strike.
The deadlock was later resolved after the CPA suspended the collection of increased entry and gate pass fees for C&F agents and transport workers.
