Rajya Sabha passes Bill seeking to replace Indian Bills of Lading Act 1856

The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Bills of Lading Bill 2025 seeking to replace the Indian Bills of Lading Act 1856.

The Bills of Lading Bill 2024, which was earlier passed in the Lok Sabha on March 10, seeks to provide a legal framework for issuance of Bills of lading. It will modernize the 169-year-old colonial shipping law and add key reforms to make the Indian shipping sector globally competitive, providing a more modern and user-friendly approach to maritime shipping

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A Bill of lading refers to a document issued by a freight carrier to a shipper. It contains details such as the type, quantity, condition, and destination of goods being carried.

The Act states that a Bill of lading is conclusive evidence of goods on board. It grants all rights of suit and liabilities regarding the goods to the receiver as per the bill of lading, or any third party to whom the receiver may transfer the ownership of goods.

The Bill retains all provisions under the Act and also adds that the Central government may issue directions for carrying out the provisions of the Bill.

“Though the substantive aspects of the said Act continue to remain relevant, being a pre-independence statute, it is imperative that the provisions of the said Act require to be revisited without changing the substance or spirit of the said Act, so as to bring it in line with modern legislations in order to facilitate simplification and ease of understanding.

“Further, a new provision is proposed to be incorporated to empower the Central government to issue directions to carry out the provisions of the proposed legislation,” said Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal in the Statement of Objects and Reason of the Bill.