From 1 November, lift-on/lift-off (LO-LO) charges for empty containers at several Indian ports are being collected directly by yard or depot operators. Hapag-Lloyd moved Chennai and Ennore to direct depot payment, and Maersk told Mundra customers to settle its revised LO-LO charges with nominated depot service providers. In Chennai, the local customs brokers’ association is threatening to boycott MSC export shipments from 15 November over third-party depot collection.

For a forwarder or customs broker whose trucker pays at the depot, the charge may now sit outside the carrier invoice normally used to bill the shipper. The Chennai Customs Brokers Association (CCBA) says exporters and importers are refusing to reimburse some of these charges. Recovering a depot payment takes more than a receipt: you need to tie it to the container that was handled and the rate in force that day.

What Changed, Port by Port

Carrier	Port	LO-LO charge per empty container	Who you pay	Effective
Hapag-Lloyd	Chennai, Ennore	INR 725 (20′) / INR 975 (40′), plus GST	Yard or depot operator, when the container is handled. NEFT or UPI only; no cash	1 Nov 2026
Maersk	Mundra	USD 51 (20′) / USD 67 (40′), up from USD 23 / USD 31, excluding local taxes (reported)	Nominated depot service provider	1 Nov 2026
MSC	Chennai	Not published	Third-party depot vendors, according to CCBA	Arrangement already in place; threatened boycott from 15 Nov (exports) and 15 Dec (imports)
Some carriers	JNPA (Nhava Sheva)	Not published	Nominated container yards collect directly (reported)	Not stated

Per box, the payment route can matter as much as the amount. Under these arrangements, the customer pays the depot separately, and the payment record or tax invoice comes from the depot operator. Hapag-Lloyd’s notice requires customers seeking a yard tax invoice to provide a company name, full billing address, Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN) and invoice email when paying.

Confirm which business should appear as the invoice recipient before arranging payment. A trucker who pays without the correct billing details may leave the forwarder or shipper without the depot tax invoice needed for its accounting and any applicable input tax credit claim.

Why the Charge Lands on the Forwarder

Hapag-Lloyd publishes the applicable LO-LO rates for Chennai and Ennore, while Maersk has reportedly revised its rates at Mundra. In both cases, payment is directed to the nominated depot. If a trucker or customs broker settles the charge on the shipper’s behalf, the cost then has to be accounted for and passed on to the exporter or importer.

That last step is where disputes arise. According to CCBA, exporters and importers frequently refuse to reimburse charges collected through third-party depots, leaving brokers to absorb the cost. The association also questions the transparency of these collection arrangements.

A shipper who disputes a depot charge may ask which container it was for, when the move happened and why that rate applied. Take a 40-foot empty handled at a Maersk-nominated depot at Mundra: the reported LO-LO charge rose from USD 31 to USD 67, excluding local taxes, effective 1 November. The handling date is an important record when checking the applicable tariff, but bookings made before the change may require confirmation of the carrier’s transition rules. Without the container’s pickup or return record and the applicable charging terms, even a correctly calculated USD 67 charge can be difficult to substantiate.

If your team is matching depot receipts to container moves by hand across several carriers, see how ops teams track available empty pickup and return milestones across carriers in one view.

The Record to Keep for Each Depot Payment

Build the record when the payment is made. A receipt pieced together weeks later, after a customer queries the invoice, carries far less weight.

• Container number, with the booking or B/L number
• Carrier, port and the depot or yard name
• The move: empty pickup for an export, or empty return for an import
• Date and time of the move, supported by the depot’s gate record or Equipment Interchange Receipt (EIR)
• Amount, currency, applicable GST or other taxes, payment method and transaction reference
• The depot’s tax invoice number, issued to the correct recipient and GSTIN
• The carrier notice or tariff in force, saved as a file, including any effective-date or transition conditions
• The customer agreement, quotation or authorization establishing who bears the charge

We set out the same container-by-container approach during the Mundra empty-yard stoppage in September, when records made on the day of a move were important in per diem disputes.

Then match. Where the carrier provides it, the empty pickup or return milestone should agree with the container number and handling date on the depot record. Carrier tracking systems do not always show every empty-container move, so a missing milestone is not proof that the move never happened. Check the EIR or depot gate record before treating a discrepancy as an error.

Before the charge reaches the shipper’s invoice, confirm that the amount matches the applicable tariff. During the changeover, also check that the carrier’s own invoice does not include a second LO-LO charge for a container already paid at the depot.

The Chennai Boycott Dates and Mundra

The Chennai Customs Brokers Association (CCBA) opposes MSC’s practice of routing empty-container charge collection through nominated third-party depot vendors. At an extraordinary general body meeting on 29 October, members resolved to stop handling MSC export shipments from 15 November 2026 if the arrangement was not withdrawn. The association said it would extend the boycott to MSC import consignments from 15 December if the dispute remained unresolved.

CCBA said it would take similar action against Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM and other lines using such arrangements, but has not set deadlines for them. MSC had not publicly responded as of 11 November. Exporters using MSC and CCBA member brokers in Chennai should confirm whether their brokers intend to participate and whether alternative handling arrangements will be available.

The Loadstar reports that industry sources expect other carriers to issue similar notices for their empty operations at Mundra. Some carriers at JNPA have also reportedly shifted collection to nominated yards. Hapag-Lloyd’s and Maersk’s November changes have already taken effect, regardless of how the Chennai dispute develops, making the payment and reconciliation controls relevant to current shipments.

Before You Bill the Next Depot Charge

• Identify which carriers on your open India bookings require depot payment at Chennai, Ennore, Mundra or Nhava Sheva
• Check whether the charge is already included in the agreed rate and who is responsible for paying it
• For Hapag-Lloyd yards, provide the correct company name, billing address, GSTIN and invoice email so the depot can issue the appropriate tax invoice
• Match each depot receipt to the container’s empty pickup or return record, using the EIR or depot gate record where carrier milestones are unavailable
• Confirm which date and transition terms each carrier uses to apply its new rate
• Check that the carrier invoice does not also bill LO-LO for the same container
• Flag MSC export bookings handled by Chennai brokers for possible disruption from 15 November, and import bookings for the threatened extension from 15 December

Further Reading

• Hapag-Lloyd changes LOLO payment process in Chennai and Ennore (Container News)
• Indian Customs Brokers Threaten Cargo Boycott Over Empty Container Fee Hikes (India Seatrade News)
• Cargo boycott threat by Indian brokers over empty-box fee hikes (The Loadstar)
• Chennai Customs Brokers Threaten Boycott of MSC Exports from 15 Nov (Port Wings)

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Sources: Hapag-Lloyd Chennai and Ennore LO-LO rates and payment terms (effective 1 November 2026) as reproduced by Container News. Maersk Mundra rates as reported by India Seatrade News; the rate increase and depot-payment instruction also reported by The Loadstar (Maersk’s own notice was not publicly available at the time of writing). CCBA’s 29 October decision and the 15 November export and 15 December import dates as reported by Port Wings. Information checked as of 11 November 2026. Confirm every charge against the carrier’s current notice, the applicable customer agreement and the depot’s billing documents before invoicing. GST treatment depends on the recipient and transaction arrangements.

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