Indian Shipping Series Pamphlet No. 3 the Deferred Rebate System

Here hoever it is only necessary to point out that the chief object of the system is to bind the shipper to the Conference Lines by making the receipt of a sum of money in the form of a rebate of freight contingent upon absolute loyalty" to the Conference so far as shipments within the area of the Conference are concerned. [...] was"7 introduced in the China trade in 1879 in the Australian trade in 1884 in the South African trade in 1886 in the West African trade in 1895 in the River plate and South Brazil trades in 1896 in the North Brazil trade in 1895 and in the trade to the West Coast of South America in 1904. [...] Complaints regarding the operation and the effects of the Deferred Rebates have been made by shippers before the Imperial Shipping Committee whose report upon the system has recently been published by the Government of India. Broadly the main contention of the complainants is that the system enables steamship Conferences to maintain a monopoly and to set limitations to the shippers' freedom of a [...] The Government contends that by means of the Rebate system the lines comprised in the outward trade to Australia from the United Kingdom prevent shippers from taking advantage of the service of the Government Line in the outward trade or in other words that the Conference has created a monopoly which it seeks to maintain to the exclusion of the Government Line.9 It. [...] The aggrgate of the shipping maintained by all the Shipping Rings will therefore exceed the aggregate that would be necessary for the same trade under a system of free.competition and there is consequent waste." " To sum up then " in the words of the Report of the Imperial Shipping Committee " regularity of service stability of freights and equality of treatment together with abstention