Maersk will raise its Dry Port Surcharge (DPS) for dry export containers moving from eight inland container depots (ICDs) in northern India through Indian ports under AFLS arrangements, with the new levels taking effect on 1 October 2026 for non-regulated countries and 26 October 2026 for regulated countries.

The increases are steepest for 40-foot boxes. At six of the eight locations, the 40-foot dry and 40-foot high-cube rate jumps from INR 9,810 to INR 11,810 — a rise of roughly 20%. The 20-foot rate at those same depots moves from INR 9,000 to INR 10,000, an increase of about 11%.

Two locations show sharper percentage moves on the larger equipment. At Rajpura (INRJP) and Phillur (INPHI), the 40-foot DPS climbs from INR 5,000 to INR 11,810 — more than doubling. The 20-foot rate at both depots rises from INR 9,000 to INR 10,000.

Ahmedgarh (INAED) carries the lightest surcharge in the revised schedule, but still sees the 20-foot rate move from INR 5,000 to INR 6,000 and the 40-foot rate from INR 5,000 to INR 7,000 — a 40% increase on the larger box.

Revised DPS levels by origin

Origin	Code	20ft: old → new	40ft: old → new
Sahnewal	INSAN	INR 9,000 → 10,000	INR 9,810 → 11,810
Ludhiana	INKRQ	INR 9,000 → 10,000	INR 9,810 → 11,810
Chawapail	INCPR	INR 9,000 → 10,000	INR 9,810 → 11,810
Kila Raipur	INKIL	INR 9,000 → 10,000	INR 9,810 → 11,810
Kilaraipur Adani	INDEN	INR 9,000 → 10,000	INR 9,810 → 11,810
Ahmedgarh	INAED	INR 5,000 → 6,000	INR 5,000 → 7,000
Rajpura	INRJP	INR 9,000 → 10,000	INR 5,000 → 11,810
Phillur	INPHI	INR 9,000 → 10,000	INR 5,000 → 11,810

The surcharge applies to 20-foot dry, 40-foot dry and 40-foot high-cube containers shipped from the listed inland locations via Indian ports to destinations worldwide.

What it means for shippers

The eight depots cluster in Punjab and adjoining northern hinterland — Sahnewal, Ludhiana, Chawapail, Kila Raipur, Kilaraipur Adani, Ahmedgarh, Rajpura and Phillur — a corridor that feeds export cargo, notably textiles, garments and light engineering goods, toward Indian gateway ports for onward ocean carriage.

For exporters booking through these origins, the DPS now adds up to INR 11,810 per 40-foot box on top of ocean freight and other accessorial charges. Shippers consolidating into 40-foot high-cube equipment face the same new level as standard 40-foot boxes, since the surcharge schedule applies a flat rate across both sizes. Forwarders quoting all-in door-to-port rates from Punjab origins will need to reload these accessorials into quotations ahead of the October effective dates.

The staggered implementation — 1 October for non-regulated destinations, 26 October for regulated ones — also means a two-tier surcharge exposure window in early October, when cargo bound for regulated and non-regulated countries will carry different DPS levels depending on the applicable effective date. Booking and billing teams should map destination lists against those dates now.

The largest cost shock lands on Rajpura and Phillur, where 40-foot shippers previously enjoyed a INR 5,000 rate that matched the region's lowest. That advantage disappears in one step, aligning those depots with the INR 11,810 standard across the rest of the corridor.

For Maersk, the revision narrows the spread between depots: after 1 October, seven of the eight locations will sit within a INR 4,810 band on 40-foot equipment, with Ahmedgarh alone remaining below INR 11,810. The move suggests a standardisation of inland cost recovery across the Punjab cluster rather than origin-specific pricing.

Shippers with contracted rates should check whether DPS is captured within freight all-kinds agreements or billed separately, as the surcharge applies specifically to cargo moving under AFLS arrangements through Indian ports. The revised levels give exporters roughly three months of runway before the first effective date to adjust pricing, routing or depot selection.