Why Wintrack Inc Is Leaving India? Founder Prawin Ganeshan's allegations ope ...
Wintrack Inc’s charges of bribery against the Chennai Customs officials opens the Pandora's box on the corruption prevailing in the department. Finance ministry to conduct a factual enquiry into the charges made by WintrackChennai-based global trading company Wintrack Inc’s announcement stating that it will cease all import and export operations in India, raising harassment and bribery charges against Chennai Customs officials, has ignited a larger conversation about corruption in India’s customs department.
From October 1, 2025, our company will cease import/export activities in India.
For the past 45 days, Chennai Customs officials have relentlessly harassed us.
After exposing their bribery practices twice this year, they retaliated, effectively crippling our operations and… pic.twitter.com/PmGib8srmM
— WINTRACK INC (@wintrackinc) October 1, 2025
Following the charges by Wintrack’s founder, Prawin Ganeshan, the Union finance ministry has ordered an official enquiry. The ministry said in a statement that the Department of Revenue has been asked to probe the matter.
“The government has taken cognisance of the matter raised by M/s Wintrack Inc (Chennai). The Department of Revenue (DoR) has been asked to undertake a fair, transparent, and fact-based inquiry into the present issue. A senior officer from DoR has been deputed to conduct a detailed factual enquiry, hearing the parties concerned, officials, thoroughly examining all relevant documentary evidence. The matter is being dealt with utmost seriousness, and the government is committed to taking appropriate and expeditious action in accordance with the law.” Importers, customs brokers and business owners across the country have started sharing their own accounts of harassment and bribery demands.
Meanwhile, Prawin Ganeshan, the founder of Wintrack Inc, had levelled serious allegations, naming specific officials, claiming that the officers received a bribe to clear his wife’s company shipment. In a post on social media platform X, Wintrack said, “From October 1, 2025, our company will cease import/export activities in India. For the past 45 days, Chennai Customs officials have relentlessly harassed us. After exposing their bribery practices twice this year, they retaliated, effectively crippling our operations and destroying our business in India. We deeply thank everyone who has supported us during these difficult times.”
Later, on October 3, Ganeshan, in a video on X, explained the situation that led to Wintrack’s decision to shut down its operations. He described how it all began in January, alleging that the Chennai Customs had held back his shipments and released them only after he obliged to their bribe demands. In his eight-minute-long video, he said that an officer from the Chennai Customs asked him for a bribe, and the alleged officer did not agree to any kind of negotiation. He said the issue recurred again in May this year, and how it continued over and over again.
According to Ganeshan, the reason for the standoff between Wintrack and the customs was a shipment containing personal massagers, which are sold in India and across the globe as sexual wellness products. In one of the X posts, Ganeshan asked, “How can a factory sell a massager without a charging cable?” Stating that the shipment in question was the massager, he said, “The charging cable is included as part of the new product kit; every new product requires a charging cable to function. Customs raised an issue for the first time this year, questioning why charging cables were not declared separately.”
Ganeshan argued that the charging cable had always been part of the packaging list and that no one sells the product without a charging cable. “For the first time, officials demanded EPR and LMPC compliance,” he said. EPR means Extended Producer Responsibility, a certificate issued by the Pollution Control Board in India. This certificate is actually given to ensure that the company takes the responsibility for recycling the batteries of the product which is sold. And, LMPC means Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) rules for the weights and labels displayed on the product. “The customs officials selectively weaponised to delay and block the goods,” Ganeshan claimed.
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The customs officials declined the charges calling it “false” and accused Ganeshan of making “unsubstantiated” allegations. In a reply to Wintrack’s post on social media, the customs department in Chennai issued strong rebuttals. “This importer has an established pattern of making unsubstantiated allegations of corruption and bribery on this platform, only to delete such posts once factual rebuttals are provided by this department,” the customs department claimed.
However, Ganeshan’s post seems to have opened a pandora’s box with many other import, export trading companies coming up with similar allegations.
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