Warehouse receipts

Section 11 of the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007 deals with warehouse receipts. A warehouse receipt, which may be either in writing or in electronic form, shall be a document of title to goods in writing if it contains all the following particulars, namely:-- (a) receipt number; The Act came into force on 25 Oct 2010.

(1) A warehouse receipt, which may be either in writing or in electronic form, shall be a document of title to goods in writing if it contains all the following particulars, namely:--

(a) receipt number;

(b) warehouse registration number and date up to which it is valid;

(c) name of the warehouse and its complete postal address;

(d) name and address of the person by whom or on whose behalf the goods are deposited;

(e) date of issue of the warehouse receipt;

(f) statement that the goods received shall be delivered to the holder thereof, or that the goods shall be delivered to the order of a named person;

(g) rates of storage charges and handling charges;

(h) description of the goods or of the packages containing them with particulars of quantity and quality or grade;

(i) market value of the goods at the time of deposit;

(j) private marks of depositor on the goods or packages, if any, except in the case of fungible goods;

(k) name of the insurance company indemnifying for fire, flood, theft, burglary, misappropriation, riots, strikes or terrorism;

(l) whether the warehouse receipt is negotiable or non-negotiable;

(m) statement of the amount of any advance made and of any liability incurred for which the warehouseman claims his lien;

(n) date and signature of the warehouseman or his authorised agent;

(o) declared shelf-life of goods;

(p) the fact that the warehouseman holds the lien on the goods deposited for his storage and handling charges; and

(q) that the receipt would be valid only till the date of expiry of declared shelf- life of the goods for which it is issued.

(2) In case a warehouseman wilfully omits from a negotiable warehouse receipt any of the particulars set out in sub-section (1), he shall be liable for damages caused by such omission.

(3) No warehouse receipt shall, by reason of the omission only of any of the particulars set-forth in sub-section (1), be deemed to be invalid for the purpose of settlement of disputes or claims.

(4) Authority may, with the prior approval of the Central Government, add, delete or modify any particulars as specified in sub-clause (1) for all or any commodity or class of commodities or for any class of warehouses.

Section 11, The Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007 (Act 37 of 2007).