Dhl Express India P Ltd. — Inappropriate charges (Storage and Handling)

Address:	122017
Website:	www.dhl.co.in

I had ordered Multi-Vitamin tablets for my 4 years daughter from IHERB US (www.iherb.com). During purchase they had charged Rs. 522.85/- towards shipping charges for shipping orders via DHL. Dispute is with respect to inappropriate charge levied by DHL towards Storage and Handling charges along with service tax amounting to Rs. 1140/-. Apart from this there is a custom duty of Rs. 1332/- which is levied against the order. So Invoice shows the break up as follows: Inbound Charges Invoice Basic Custom Duty : 766 Counter Vailing Duty : 415 Additional Custom Duty: 151 Storage Charge : 500 Education Cess: 35 Handling Fee : 500 Service tax 14%: 140 Total : 2507 In the order following points were mentioned:- a) Duties and taxes may be collected at delivery b) KYC document: Once you have placed your order at iherb, you need to upload Know Your Customer (KYC) documents (Government recognized identify and address proof) at the website: www.dhlindia-kyc.com. These documents are required by Customs for shipment clearance. Import clearance cannot start unless Consignees' KYC documents and Authorization Letter (POA) are uploaded by the consignee at the website above. As per tracking record, Shipment arrived on 28th Oct 2015 at 7.53 PM, However KYC document was uploaded on 30th Oct between 7:53 Pm -8:00PM. On 2nd Nov morning I received a call from DHL delivery person saying that your packet will be delivered today if I give Rs. 2500/- at the time of delivery. It was a shock for me as the cost of multi-vitamin which I had ordered and already paid was Rs. 1991/- and to deliver they are asking for more than the cost of medicine. I wrote several emails to customer care of DHL however they continued with following responses: a) Every inbound order is charged Rs. 500/- as handling charges : b) Storage charge based on weight (Rs. 500/-, weight mentioned on iherb is 1lbs which is around 450 gms) is levied if the custom clearance is not done within 72 hours of shipment arrival. My reasoning for not charging about amounts is as follows: a) If inbound charge is levied on all inbound delivery i) why is it not recovered during purchase along with shipping charges, for individuals it is part of shipping cost so to keep it transparent, DHL can get this included and avoid any hassle for customer and DHL both ii) Also in Iherb site it is mentioned that duties and taxes may be collected at the delivery. Handling charge is neither custom duty nor any other tax which is being asked by DHL so why should I be liable to pay this inappropriate charge. b) Storage charge of Rs. 500: i) Nowhere in DHL site or IHERB site mentions that if KYC document is not uploaded within/before these x many days or some stipulated time else the packet will attract storage charge ii) Even if I take 72 hours plea of DHL, Packet arrived on 28th Oct around 7:53 PM, KYC document uploaded on 30th Oct around 7:53-8:00PM; still custom clearance could have completed on 31st Oct (which would have been well within 72 hours timeline) instead of 1st Nov. This delay if any is from DHL side and individual should not be charged for this. iii) This is again not a duty or tax which many be collected at the time of delivery Please help in getting this issue sorted.