Freight Forwarder John Mantey Sues 18 Shipping Lines Over Imposition of Unapproved Fees
Chairman of the Tema Branch of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), John Mantey, has filed a lawsuit against 18 shipping lines for imposing unapproved fees on Ghanaian traders – importers, exporters, freight forwarders and the larger trading community.
The suit filed at the High Court, among others, is demanding the following from the defendants (shipping lines);
a. A declaration that the defendants’ actions imposing unapproved fees on customers is illegal, as it Breaches the law.
b. A declaration that the defendant’s actions of counting weekends and holidays as part of their demurrage charges is unlawful.
c. An order for the Defendants to refund all money collected from their illegally imposed charges to their customers.
d. Cost including legal fees
e. Any further order(s) that the honourable court may deem fit.
Per the Plaintiff (Mr Mantey), the suit is in view of the enactment of the Ghana Shippers’ Act 2024 (Act 1122), all shipping lines are now required to submit their proposed service charges to the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) for approval before imposing these charges on their customers.
The Plaintiff notes that in accordance with the GSA Act, the GSA on November 1, 2024, communicated with shipping lines to submit their “current local (destination) charges for the year 2025 by November 8, 2024, to facilitate the approval process.
This, was, however, not complied with by the shipping lines.
Following the failure of the shipping lines to comply with the directive by the GSA, the GSA on November 18, 2024, wrote to the shipping lines, suspending their charges until approval was given.
Shipping lines operating in the country, have over the years, been accused of exploiting Ghanaian traders, relying on institutional inaction to maintain their economic stranglehold.
By leveraging unchecked pricing practices by regulators, shipping lines have imposed illegitimate charges that unnecessarily inflate the cost of doing business and ultimately burden Ghanaian consumers.
