Chennai Customs officials have come under fire in light of bombshell allegations raised against the government by Tamil Nadu-based firm Wintrack Inc. Company officials took to its official X account to shed light on how they had been “relentlessly harassed” for more than a month, while also announcing that it would be ceasing import and export activities in India from October 1 onwards. The company’s founder Prawin Ganeshan also accused officials of demanding bribes to release shipments.

On Monday night, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs took to its own official social media account to address the allegations at hand. Dismissing any claims about Chennai Customs’ corrupt handling of the issue, government authorities said, “It is clarified that the issue pertains to misdeclaration and misclassification by the importer.”

Amid the continuing blame-game, Chennai Customs also directly responded to the serious allegations, calling them “false.” Officials even went on to hit it out against Ganeshan and Wintrack Inc, in turn, accusing the importer of having a “pattern of making unsubstantiated allegations of corruption and bribery on this platform, only to delete such posts once factual rebuttals are provided by this department.”

Chennai Customs slams ‘false’ allegations

In a detailed explanation, the customs official noted that the goods declared under CTH 90191010 had been “misclassified,” as the correct reclassification would be under CTH 90191020. According to the Chennai Customs’ statement, importer accepted this on September 1, 2025, while also acknowledging the misclassification.

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“Physical examination revealed eight boxes containing USB charging cables that were completely undeclared in the Bill of Entry, commercial invoice, and packing list – a clear violation of Section 111 of the Customs Act, 1962,” the post added. Moreover, it noted that the imported goods had built-in rechargeable batteries, which required mandatory EPR registration from Central Pollution Control Board under Rule 13 of Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022. Chennai officials maintained that the company failed to follow through despite repeated queries.

The official clarification continued, “Instead, the importer submitted wrong documentation (E-waste undertaking) and made legally untenable claims of MSME exemption, finished product exemption, and low battery capacity exemption – none of which exist under the Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022.”

The Chennai authorities firmly emphasised that no payment or bribe was demanded from the importer at any point. Additionally, bonding permission under Section 49 of Customs Act was granted to the company on September 11 to help it avoid “demurrage charges during adjudication.”

Wintrack founder Prawin Ganesha doubles down on port bribery, corruption allegations

Ganeshan re-shared the response, offering his own take on the development. Insisting that the government department was “cooking up stories,” he claimed that had enough documented evidence with names and money paid to prove his point. “Shipment was released upon total bribe of Rs 2,10,000 for a value of $6993 USD,” he wrote, alleging that he personally met “Group 5 AC Mr PV Sudhakaran in New Customs House,” where he conveyed his grievance over the alleged bribe.

In a follow-up post, he added that due to per-day demurrage being marked at a minimum of Rs 10,000, the company was facing indirect losses. On top of that, Ganeshan released screenshots of WhatsApp communications between certain officials named Ashish Nehra Vital, Bandi Nariappa and Gyanendra Pandey, who are believed to have received bribe so that his wife’s company shipment could be cleared.

Wintrack Inc has since formally announced on social media that they will be releasing a detailed video on October addressing all their troubles with Customs from January to present-day. “We met top authorities from August to September; harassment increased afterward, as they aim to silence us,” the post stated.

While many have already spoken out in the company and Ganeshan’s support, the Wintrack founder has now urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take the necessary action against the alleged corrupt officers. v

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Wintrack stands by its claims that thousands of shipments from China ultimately get clearance as customs officers pocket bribes at Indian ports. In yet another official statement shared via social media, the importer doubled down on the accusations, stating that a company owned by Prawin Ganeshan’s wife was also asked for a “₹2.1 lakh ransom (₹1.6 lakh + ₹50,000) for an import value of ₹6.25 lakh.”

Govt under scanner – Questions raised amid Chennai Customs allegations

Indian National Congress’ Shashi Tharoor was one among the many to have caught a glimpse of the state of affairs. Amplifying Wintrack’s post, he wrote, “This is truly dismaying. Corruption remains rampant across the system and most companies simply comply as part of the ‘price of doing business.’ It doesn’t have to be this way. Indeed it must not be like this if the country is to grow and prosper.”

Meanwhile, former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai took aim at FM Nirmala Sitharam for not being able to stop “tax terrorism” and failing to “stamp out systemic corruption in our ports.”

His strongly-worded X post further said, “I hope you have seen it. Rs 30l cr stuck up in tax disputes, 15 cr said to be recoverable- ~80% + in last 5 years!” Urging her to push for necessary action, he added, “15l cr deemed non recoverable- no assets, no assessee. Please act.”

Yusuf Unjhawala, an adjunct scholar at the Takshashila Institution, also reacted to the issue, saying that small businesses stood no chance against the state. “QCOs, BIS etc has made life “merrier” for Customs. From own experience and hearing from other importers, demands can be 10-50% of the shipment value,” he wrote on X. Ganeshan also reposted his tweet, which added, “Or they threaten to put shipments for scrutiny. That is time consuming, it costs in demurrage and loss of business. So we have no option but to settle.”