IRCM VOL-2, CHAPTER-23 HANDLING OF GOODS PDF

11/22/24, 2:07 PM CHAPTER XXIII HANDLING OF GOODS CHAPTER XXIII HANDLING OF GOODS, PARCELS, ETC. 2301. Definition.—In this chapter,...

11/22/24, 2:07 PM CHAPTER XXIII HANDLING OF GOODS CHAPTER XXIII HANDLING OF GOODS, PARCELS, ETC. 2301. Definition.—In this chapter, unless the contrary is evident from the context — (i) the term "goods" includes timber, bones, tiles, motor-cars, carriages, coal and coke and goods of all descriptions conveyed by the railways; and (ii) the term "wagon" includes all types of vehicles used for conveyance of goods by the railway. 2302. Arrangements for loading and unloading of goods.—The conditions under which goods are loaded and/or unloaded by consignors or consignees/endorsee, are published in the tariffs. In all other cases, the loading and unloading of goods is performed by the railway either— (i) through its regular staff of Porters| Hamals employed for the purpose; or (ii) through duly authorized contractors including labour co-operatives; or (iii) through Station Masters authorized in this behalf. 2303. Loading and unloading by railway staff.— When loading and unloading is done by regular railway staff, no special returns are required to be prepared as the wages of these employees are drawn in the regular, pay sheets. 2304. Loading and unloading by contractors.—The contracts for the handling of goods on behalf of the railways at the goods/parcels sheds, railway stations, dumps, transshipment and repacking points, and on repacking goods | parcels trains, are awarded by the Headquarters/Divisional Office. The stations concerned will be supplied with a copy of the agreement with the contractor, stipulating the terms and conditions under which the handling is to be done, and the rates at which the contractor's remunerations are to be paid. Station Masters are responsible to ensure that all the items of work to be performed by the contractor as per agreement are carried out by him, and that no other agency is employed for the same purpose. 2305. The handling work required to be done by the contractor normally includes — (i) loading of general goods into railway wagons; (ii) unloading of general goods from railway wagons; (iii) transshipment of goods from sick and damaged wagons direct from one wagon into another or on the ground and from the ground into wagon irrespective of the interval of time which may have to elapse between the different parts of this operation, (iv) transshipment at junctions/break-of-gauge stations of goods from one wagon into another or on the ground and from the ground into wagons, irrespective of the interval of time which may have to elapse between the different parts of this operation; (v) loading and unloading of packages from Section Road Vans made up at the station or detached and unloaded at the station as opposed to Section Road Vans on van goods trains; (vi) loading and unloading goods, parcels, etc., into and from all trains—passenger, goods, parcels and mixed; (vii) loading and unloading 'smalls' received and despatched by van goods trains in charge of Guards; (viii) all minor operations necessary for the effective performance of the foregoing operations; (ix) sorting the contents of seal defective wagons for checking purposes partially unloading or https://indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/codesmanual/CommManual-II/commercialmanualIIch23_data.htm#2301 1/6 11/22/24, 2:07 PM CHAPTER XXIII HANDLING OF GOODS loading the same, if necessary; (x) handling of unconnected and/or misdespatched wagons; (xi) loading and unloading of 'L' condition goods when directed by the administration; (xii) loading, unloading and transshipment of goods at non-contract stations if necessary; and (xiii) load reducing and adjustment of loads. 2306. General station duties as may be included in the agreement will also be performed by the contractors in addition to the work of handling. These general station duties include— (i) sweeping and cleaning wagons before loading; (ii) placing on and removing from weighing machines outward goods, requiring to be weighed; (iii) placing on and removing from weighing machines inward goods which are to be weighed or reweighed; (iv) placing or assisting to place wagons by hand shunting in position for loading and unloading under the supervision of a Traffic official; (v) closing and assisting in sealing of outward wagons; (vi) sheeting and unsheathing wagons including those booked under 'L' conditions; (vii) folding of tarpaulins not in use and placing them in their proper places; (viii) handling of packages in godowns to enable inventory of goods being taken by railway staff; (ix) stacking of goods at particular places in the goods sheds or on railway platforms ; (x) handling of goods in railway premises including cash safes, postal bags and packages booked under free service way-bills; (xi) other items as necessary for a particular station; (xii) supply of labour for tying ropes and chains and otherwise assisting in the operations of the cranes in cases of loading, unloading and transshipment of heavy goods by hand steam mobile cranes; (xiii) sorting and adjustment of Road Vans; and (xiv) such other minor duties as are found necessary for the effective performance of the tore going duties. 2307. Labour employed by the contractor.—(a) The contractor is responsible for providing at all times, and as and when required, a sufficient number of able-bodied adult male laborers to perform all the work of porter age under his contract. He will also arrange, on demand of the Station Master on duty for such additional number of labourers, as required, if it appears that the number of labourers present is insufficient for the work to be performed. (b) The contractor is not permitted to employ any labourer below the age of 15 years. Nor he should, under any circumstances, employ any employees of the railway administration for the purpose of carrying out his contract nor any person previously in the employment of the railway, without a written permission from the Chief Commercial Superintendent. 2308. The contractor will be responsible for the proper and orderly conduct of the labourers whilst performing their duties at the goods sheds and station premises, and will employ only such men whose character has been verified by the police and have been declared to be suitable for https://indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/codesmanual/CommManual-II/commercialmanualIIch23_data.htm#2301 2/6 11/22/24, 2:07 PM CHAPTER XXIII HANDLING OF GOODS employment. He will also terminate the services of any labourer who, in the opinion of the Station Master, is indifferent, disobedient, insubordinate or is considered unsuitable for employment. 2309. The contractor will forbid and take all possible steps within his power to prevent all labourers and other persons employed by him from demanding or receiving from any person other than the contractor himself or his agents any remuneration or gratuity whatsoever. 2310. The labourers employed by the contractor must work under the supervision and control of the Station Master or other concerned railway staff and should not be permitted to ply for hire as licensed Porters. The contractor will make such arrangements for the supervision and inspection of all handling loading and transshipment operations as will ensure efficient work. The officials of the railway administration will also be entitled to supervise and inspect the work of the labour supplied by the contractor. The contractor or his authorized agent shall be available at the station during the hours of working for being contacted by the railway staff when required in the discharge of the duties under the contract. 2311. Responsibility of the contractors for loss or destruction of goods.—The contractor is responsible for any loss, destruction or deterioration of goods or any delay in the delivery of goods, or pilferage there from, caused by any insufficiency of the supply of the labourers, or due to carelessness, neglect or misconduct of labourers, or other persons employed by him, to the full extent of the claim including legal expenses that may be paid by the railway. 2312. Responsibility of the contractors for detention to wagons goods.—The contractor is also responsible for any delay caused to wagons and goods due to insufficiency of labourers or by neglect, carelessness, incompetence or dishonesty of labourers or other persons employed by him or for any other cause whatsoever; and in that event in addition to action being taken against him under the terms and conditions of the agreement, the contractor will be liable to pay demurrage after the expiry of free time for detention to the wagons, at the rates and subject to the conditions prescribed in the agreement. 2313. Recovery of demurrage charges from contractors.—(a) As kid down in Para 925 (b), a separate wagon transfer register should be maintained in Form Com./L-16 for the wagons handled by contractor. However, in the case of transshipment of goods referred to in item (iv) of Para 2305 above, the wagon transfer register should be maintained in the pro-forma appearing at Appendix XXIII/A. The signature of the contractor or his authorized agent should invariably be obtained against the relevant entries in the wagon transfer registers immediately after placement |release of the wagons so as to avoid any disputes later. (b) The free time allowed for releasing the wagons and the rate at which demurrage is recoverable if the wagons are not released by the contractor within this free time are stipulated in the agreement. The demurrage charges due should be worked out and recorded in the appropriate columns of the wagon transfer register. 2314. (a) At the end of the month, particulars of the demurrage charges due should be consolidated in the "Handling contractor's demurrage account" in Form Com./D-13 Rev., which should be prepared in triplicate, by carbon process ; two copies of the demurrage account should be submitted along with the handling bill and the third copy retained as station record. The total of the demurrage charges due, after being tallied with the relevant figures in the wagon transfer register, will be recorded on the handling bill, thus : "Demurrage account for Rs............attached. In case no demurrage is due, word 'Nil' should be recorded In the space for 'Amount' and the word 'attached' omitted. (b) The demurrage accrued on wagons handling by the contractor should not be accounted for in the station balance sheet. 2315. Accommodation.—Ordinarily, sleeping accommodation or cooking or washing facilities for labourers of the contractor should not be provided at railway stations. Should accommodation https://indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/codesmanual/CommManual-II/commercialmanualIIch23_data.htm#2301 3/6 11/22/24, 2:07 PM CHAPTER XXIII HANDLING OF GOODS permit, the Station Master may, at his discretion, permit the labourers to sleep and prepare meals on railway premises in places indicated to them by the railway staff; such faculties may be withdrawn at any time by the Station Master. Wives and families of labourers are not permitted to foregather with them on railway premises at any time; one such person may, however, be permitted to bring food to a labourer. 2316. Free telegraph service.—All telegrams tendered by the contractor, or his agent, connected with bona fide Railway business and relevant to the handling contract and certified as such by the Station Master/Goods Clerk, should be accepted free of charge. 2317. Supply of labour in an emergency.—(a) The contractor will give all assistance in his power, and employ all available labour, when called upon to do so, in the case of any emergency such as, an accident or a breach of the line or for any other work not provided for in his agreement, for which he will be paid separately. (b) Requisition for labour outside the handling contract should be placed on the contractor on Form Com./L-13, the upper portion of which is a 'requisition' and the lower portion a 'certificate for actual labour supplied'. The requisition will be retained by the contractor and the certificate, after being signed by the station staff under whom the labour worked, will be submitted by the contractor along with the relevant bill. 2318. Subletting not allowed—The contractors are not permitted to sub let the whole or any part of the contract. 2319. Goods handling bills.—The contractor will prepare and submit monthly, bills for the goods handling work done by him at the station during the preceding month in the pro-forma appearing at Appendix XXIII/B. The total weight of the local outward and inward goods traffic as per goods outward book (Para 2008) and machine prepared abstracts for home line (Para 2020) respectively, should be entered in the appropriate columns of the bill, irrespective of whether the same is handled by the contractor or not. The total of statements A and B of goods not handled by the contractor (see Para 2321) should be deducted from these figures and after adding the net weight of through traffic as appearing in the return of through goods handled (see Para 2320), the total weight for which the contractor is to be paid, and the amount payable, should be arrived at and recorded on the bill. 2320. Return of through goods handled.—A return of through goods handled will be prepared and submitted in the pro forma appearing at Appendix XXIII/ C. The total weight of the outward and inward through traffic will be entered in the appropriate columns of this return in the same manner as laid down in Para 2319 for preparing the goods handling bill for local traffic except that the figures for the traffic received from or via non-Government: railways will be obtained from the relevant general summary (Para 2018) as no machine prepared abstracts arc received for such traffic. After deducting the total weight of statement C of goods not handled by the contractor, the net weight should be carried over to the goods handling bill (see Para 2319). 2321. Statement of goods not handled by the contractor.—(a) The statement of goods not handled by the contractor should be prepared in Form Com./G-12 Rev. It should be seen that the following items have been correctly included in the statement and the weight in connection therewith are deducted from the total weight shown in the bill return of through goods handled as per goods outward book and the machine prepared abstracts/summaries of goods received from or via non-Government railways, to arrive at the net weight for which handling charges are payable:— (1) Weight of all goods handled by consignors and consignees/endorsees. (2) Weight of goods handled by mills, private firms, etc., where they are permitted to do the loading and unloading of their consignments at their sidings or at stations. (3) The weight of goods in respect of which invoices have been issued | accounted for twice, or those subsequently adjusted by means of overcharge sheets. (4) Weight of goods which have not been received though the relevant invoice have been https://indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/codesmanual/CommManual-II/commercialmanualIIch23_data.htm#2301 4/6 11/22/24, 2:07 PM CHAPTER XXIII HANDLING OF GOODS accounted for. (5) Weight of goods for which refund overcharges sheets on account of error in weight have been issued. (6) Where more than one agency handles the goods, the weight handled by such other agencies. (7) Weight of goods received/ despatched in vans which are handled by railway Porters| Hamals or for which the contractor is paid on lump sum or per man |van basis. (8) Weight of any other goods not handled by the contractors. (b) When goods are handled subsequent to the month in which the connected invoices were accounted for in the relevant returns, the weight of such goods which had been deducted through statement A or C of the proper month, should be added in the bill return of through goods handled for the month in which they are actually handled. A statement, in manuscript, showing full particulars of the weight so included should be submitted along with the bill return of through goods handled in support of the weight added in the latter. (c) The statement of goods not handled by the contractor should be prepared in three parts, on separate sheets, marked A, B and C, as under— (i) Statement A showing weight of goods covered by (a) (1) to (6) and (8) above, for local traffic only; (ii) Statement B showing weight of goods covered by (a) (7) above for both local and through traffic; and (iii) Statement C showing weight of goods covered by (a) (1) to (6) and (8) above for through traffic only. 2322. Submission of bills.—The bill together with the return of through goods handled and statements A, B and C, after necessary certification by the Station Master and the contractor, should be forwarded to the Divisional Commercial Superintendent for counter-signature and transmission to the Traffic Accounts Office for check and payment. 2323. Parcels and luggage handling bills. The handling bill for parcels and luggage will be prepared in the same way and on the same forms as goods handling bills with the following exceptions :— (1) The weight of outward parcels booked will be taken from the outward paid parcel cash books and the relevant summaries of to-pay parcels forwarded. (2) For inward paid parcels, a separate statement should be prepared in manuscript, in duplicate, showing way-bill number, dated station, from, via and actual weight. The total of this statement should be shown in the bill as 'inward paid parcels', sending a copy of the statement to the Traffic Accounts Office along with the bill return of through parcels handled. For inward to-pay parcels, the weight will be obtained from the relevant summaries. (3) Stations should record in the luggage delivery book, in a separate column, the weight of inward luggage received in the brake van 'and handled by the contractor. A statement of inward luggage received in brake van should be prepared, in duplicate, by carbon process, in the pro forma appearing at Appendix XXIII/D, the monthly total of the weight column of which, after being reconciled with the relevant column of the luggage delivery book, should be included in the bill return of through luggage handled. One copy of this statement, together with the owner's foils of the connected luggage tickets (or the Guard foils, if owner foils are not forthcoming) should be submitted to the Traffic Accounts Office along with the bill return of through luggage handled, and the other copy retained as station record. (4) The weight of outward luggage booked in brake van as shown in the luggage return or the summary of through luggage, as the case may be, should be included in the bill/return of https://indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/codesmanual/CommManual-II/commercialmanualIIch23_data.htm#2301 5/6 11/22/24, 2:07 PM CHAPTER XXIII HANDLING OF GOODS through luggage handled. 2324. Lump sum bills.—If the agreement provides for payment of any lump sum amount for the services rendered by the contractor, a separate bill should be prepared for each kind of service rendered at the station for which separate lump sum is to be paid irrespective of whether it pertains to local or through traffic. The Station Master, after recording the following certificate on the bill, will forward the same to Divisional Commercial Superintendent for counter-signature and onward transmission to Traffic Accounts Office for check and payment :— Certified that the contractor has actually performed the services mentioned herein, in accordance with the relevant clause of the agreement". 2325. Where, as per agreement, labourers are required to be supplied for a particular service each day, the Station Master or any other official under whose supervision the labourers will work should maintain proper record of the number of labourers supplied daily, and obtain the signature of the contractor or his authorized agent in token of his acceptance. When the agreement provides for the supply of specific number of labourers for particular services each day, a statement showing the number of labourers supplied short, will be submitted along with the bill, and the amount involved deducted from the bill, wherever necessary. 2326. Transshipment bills.—Separate bills will be prepared by the contractors for the handling work performed by them in connection with the transhipment of goods at junctions, transfer of goods from sick wagons into sound wagons, adjustment of loads or checking of contents of weapons, etc. The bills which should be accompanied by detailed statements showing full booking particulars, etc. of the goods handled, duly certified by the Station Master, will be submitted to the Divisional Commercial Superintendent for countersignature and transmission to the Traffic Accounts Office for check and payment. 2327. Goods transferred from one wagon in another.—(a) Whenever goods are transferred from one wagon into another due to any exceptional cause, such as when a wagon becomes sick or damaged, the Station Master of the station at which the contents are transferred will, if the transhipment is performed by contractor, give a special voucher to the latter indicating full particulars of the work performed by the contractor. He should also promptly advise the destination station the number, description and capacity of the wagons from and into which the goods were transhipped. The destination station will note the particulars on the relevant invoice as also in the goods delivery book against the relevant entry. (b) The vouchers received by the contractors as above should be submitted along with the transhipment bill as an evidence of the transhipment work done by the contractor. A copy of the voucher should be retained as station record and filed along with the record copy of the bill. 2328. Time limit for submission of handling bills.—All claims for: payment of handling charges must be preferred within three months of the rendering of such services, failing which the contractor will not be entitled to any payment on account thereof, unless it could be proved that the contractor was not at fault for the belated submission of claims. 2329. Disallowances by Traffic Accounts Office-Monthly statements showing full particulars of the disallowances made in the bills of the contractor will be sent by the Traffic Accounts Office, in duplicate, of the Divisional Commercial Superintendent, who will transmit one copy of the same to the contractor to enable the latter to put in his claim, if any, well in time. 2330. Bill for handling by Station Masters.—At stations, where the Station Masters perform the loading or unloading services, each Railway Administration will notify the detailed procedure to be followed for certification and check of the bills submitted by the Station Master, the rates at which the services are to be paid for, the record to be maintained for disbursement, etc. The bills will, however, be prepared in the same way and on the same forms as laid down in paras 2319 to 2328 for contractor's bills. https://indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/codesmanual/CommManual-II/commercialmanualIIch23_data.htm#2301 6/6