Wintrack Inc shuts India operations alleging harassment from Chennai Customs

Chennai: Tamil Nadu-based Wintrack Inc, importer of personal massagers from China and Thailand, has announced that it has ceased operations from October 1 following “relentless harassment” from Customs officials here in the last one-and-a-half month, who allegedly demanded bribes for releasing goods.

As politicians like Shashi Tharoor and businessmen like Mohandas Pai came out in support of the company and against “corrupt officials”, the Union Government intervened swiftly and ordered a “fair, transparent, and fact-based inquiry” by a senior officer from the Department of Revenue, who will hearing parties concerned, and officials.

The company received support from several quarters, including importers and exporters, who narrated their experiences of being asked for bribes or harassed by officials of the Customs.

The government said the matter is being dealt with utmost seriousness, and that it was committed to taking appropriate and expeditious action in accordance with the law. “It is reiterated that the Government is committed to enhancing ease of doing business,” a statement from the Ministry of Finance said.

Wintrack Inc’s founder Prawin Ganeshan took to social media to allege that the sustained pressure from the Customs Department in Chennai has made the company “impossible to continue operations.”

“For the past 45 days, Chennai Customs officials have relentlessly harassed us. After exposing their bribery practices twice this year, they retaliated, effectively crippling our operations and destroying our business in India,” the company said in a statement.

Ganeshan gave several examples to prove his point that his shipments were being held up without paying bribes and alleged that he was asked for a bribe of Rs 8 lakh for a shipment in January and dealt with an officer in Delhi.

“When he refused to lower his demand, I recorded the call with his agent and exposed it on Twitter (X) and subsequently the shipment was released, and I thanked the Chennai customs and removed the tweet.” He also admitted that he did pay bribes in some cases.

The issue got serious in August, and he floated a new company in his wife’s name and imported a shipment in September for $7,000 dollars. “They asked for a bribe of 3 lakhs, and we paid Rs 2.1 lakhs to clear the shipment,” he said, adding that when the second shipment arrived, it was not even examined.

Chennai Customs described the allegations as serious and false, and claimed that the importer threatened officials that he would expose them and indulge in self-harm and issued a detailed rebuttal of his import on August 12.

“The allegations of harassment and non-cooperation are demonstrably false. The importer was granted a personal hearing on September 8,” the Customs said, adding that this selective narrative is a deliberate tactic to pressure officials into releasing cargo without following due process.

While Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said 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,” he added.

Pai, in a post on X, tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and said such a development was unacceptable especially when they promised a “corruption-free” administration.

“You have failed to stamp out systemic corruption in our ports. Please stop this. You have also failed to stop tax terrorism,” he added.