SAGT launches first self-service online e-DA facility

South Asia Gateway Terminals (Pvt) Ltd (SAGT), Sri Lanka’s first Private Public Partnership (PPP) container terminal, launched the first self-service online e-DA facility in the Port of Colombo on June 1st.  

This facility empowers the customer to obtain the import container e-Delivery Advice (e-DA) at their convenience 24/7/365. Much like an air traveller generating their own boarding-pass.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, SAGT introduced an emailed based e-DAprocess in compliance with the social distancing directives at the time. That process allowed customers the opportunity to transact clearances without the need for face-to-face interaction. This revolutionized a decade long paper-based process within a week. 

To further enhance the “ease of doing business” customer experience, SAGT thenintroduced the secure online payment facilityvia the company’s e-Port platform. This enhanced process allowed for automated payment reconciliation, hassle-free online transactions and faster processing times of e-DA requests to under 30 minutes compared to several hours under the manual process.  This was a major influence with minimal disruption and swift clearance of essential goods to end-users. 

Commenting on the new enhancements, Chief Commercial Officer of SAGT, Ted Muttiah said, “SAGT is committed to innovating our business processes with the aim of enhancing the ease of doing business. The launch of this facility not only assists our customers, but also our customer’s customer. 

The self-service facility significantly improves the efficiency of import cargo clearance in a secure and effective manner. These process improvements through digitization and digitalization are the ways forward to sustainable cost efficienciesfor all supply-chain stakeholders”. 

This initiative is yet another first in the Port of Colombo, enhancing SAGT’s customer centricity with investments in support of driving supply-chain velocity across its terminal activities.