Here’s a question regarding Telex Release and amendment, from a reader Jeetu Kapoor.. 
What is the procedure to take telex bill of lading, if original already despatch to customer, and to change notify party name in the telex bill of lading. and do we have to pay charges for this telex bill of lading.
Jeetu, my article What is a Telex Release explains all about a Telex Release and its role.. There is no terminology as Telex Bill of Lading..
If all the issued originals have already been despatched to the customer, then you don’t have any further original bills of lading left to surrender to the shipping line, so you can’t get a Telex Release..
The customer that has all the issued originals must ask the shipping line to issue a telex release message to the destination port agent.. But if the OBLs are already at the destination, then there is no need for a telex release, the customer can simply surrender the OBLs at the destination office of the shipping line..
Regarding the amendment, since all originals are with the customer, any amendment can be done only by the customer..
- Once they surrender all issued originals to the closest office of the shipping line or their agent, they can get a new set issued.. This is the only option if you absolutely have to show the correct notify in the bill of lading..
- If the customer has despatched the OBLs already to the destination and it is en-route to the final receiver, you can (assuming you are the shipper or booking agent), with the approval of the customer, request the shipping line to amend the manifest to the new notify party with a remark that the Original Bills of Lading have not been amended, however this will be subject to manifest amendment regulations at port of discharge..
Yes, all shipping lines/agents will charge you for the issuance of a Telex Release and also for any amendment, hence it is prudent for the shipper to check the bill of lading draft and verify the same before the final original is printed..
Read
Can we do telex release to notify party ?
Hi Eric, notify party has no contractual role, but if the bill is TO ORDER OF SHIPPER or TO ORDER the shipper can endorse to any party they wish to..
Thanks a lot, sir!
good day
before issuance of telex release, full set OB/L have to be surrender to the shipping line agency who handle this shipment.
agency at POL should request shipper approval to amend manifest, after that you should pay amenement fee for manifest corrector
regards
Here I would like to add one more point: what if the shipment is made on L/C (letter of credit) and in consignee column bank is appearing. Then in this case we need to check first opening bank (bank at destination) has accepted the bills of lading and other commercial documents? If L/C is completed and B/L are released by bank at destination to consignee, then consignee should surrender all the originals to destination agent of forwarder or ss/line and destination agent of forwarder or ss/line will send a confirmation message to their origin office that they are in possession of original B/L’s and now notify party or amendment can be carried out and to save time make the B/L of lading express release BUT AGAIN SUBJECT TO APPROVAL FROM BANK OR WHILE ISSUING “AMENDED” EXPRESS RELEASE B/L REMOVE BANK NAME FROM THE CONSIGNEE COLUMN.
The other case is that shipper get released original B/L at origin and sent out the same to consignee and now consignee want to amend anything in B/L then he is required to surrender first set of original B/L’s (as there could not be two negotiable documents for one shipment) and after the confirmation from forwarder or ss/line destination agent, origin office will amend the B/L as per shipper / consignee requirement and then make the amended B/L express release.
Yes in any case amendment charges will apply at origin as well as at destination + some service provider in various countries do charge surrender fee also.
Hi Yousuf, I have to disagree with your fist point.. It is not possible to convert a negotiable bill of lading consigned to a bank to an Express bill of lading after the negotiations have been done.. There would be no commercial sense in anyone doing this.. If you have seen any such examples, please do share, as i believe it cannot happen..
If a bill of lading is consigned to a bank and there is any amendment, it would be rejected by the bank the bill of lading has to match what is agreed on the L/C.. If the L/C conditions have not been fulfilled, then the bank will automatically reject it and the OBL won’t proceed any further until the L/C conditions are satisfied.. So in such case, the shipper has the option of making the amendment before the OBL is sent to the customer via the bank..