DHL Express Terms and Conditions of Carriage

("Terms and Conditions")

When ordering DHL's services you, as "Shipper", are agreeing, on your behalf and on behalf of the consignee of the Shipment ("Consignee") and anyone else with an interest in the Shipment that these Terms and Conditions shall apply.

"Shipment" means all documents or parcels that travel under one waybill and which may be carried by any means DHL chooses, including air, road or any other carrier. A "waybill" shall include any Shipment identifier or document produced by DHL or Shipper automated systems such as a label, barcode, waybill or consignment note as well as any electronic version thereof. Every Shipment is transported on a limited liability basis as provided herein. If Shipper requires greater protection, then insurance may be arranged at an additional cost. (Please see below for further information). "DHL" means any member of the DHL Express Network.

DHL may perform any of the following activities on Shipper's or Consignee’s behalf in order to provide services: (1) complete any documents, amend product or service codes and advance any duties, taxes or other regulatory charges required under applicable laws and regulations ("Customs Duties"), (2) act as Shipper’s or Consignee's true and lawful agent or designate a customs broker to perform export control and customs clearance and (3) redirect the Shipment to Consignee's customs broker or other address upon request by any person who DHL believes in its reasonable opinion to be authorized. Shipper or Consignee will provide any extra authorization required by applicable law for DHL to clear a Shipment.
A Shipment is deemed unacceptable if:
  • it contains complete firearms, ammunition, explosives, explosive devices or test pieces, air guns, replica or imitation firearms; counterfeit goods; cash; bullion (of any precious metal); live animals, prohibited animal parts or remains, such as ivory; human remains or ashes; loose precious or semi-precious stones; cannabis or its derivatives; or illegal goods, such as narcotics or other illegal drugs,
  • it is classified as hazardous material, dangerous goods, prohibited or restricted articles under ADR (European Road Transport Regulation on dangerous goods) or by IATA (International Air Transport Association), ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), or other relevant organization ("Dangerous Goods"),
  • it contains any other item which DHL cannot carry safely or legally,
  • the address is incorrect or not properly marked or its packaging is defective or inadequate to ensure safe transportation with ordinary care in handling,
  • Shipper, Consignee or any other party with a direct or indirect interest in the Shipment is listed on any applicable sanctions lists as a denied or restricted party.

Shipments cannot be delivered to PO boxes or postal codes. Shipments are delivered to the Consignee's address given by Shipper but not necessarily to the named Consignee personally. Shipments to addresses with a central receiving area will be delivered to that area.

DHL may notify Consignee of an upcoming delivery or a missed delivery. Consignee may be offered alternative delivery options such as delivery on another day, no signature required, redirection or collection at a DHL Service Point.

If the Shipment is deemed to be unacceptable as described in Section 2, it has been undervalued for customs purposes, Consignee cannot be reasonably identified or located, or Consignee refuses delivery or to pay Customs Duties or other Shipment charges, DHL shall use reasonable efforts to return the Shipment to Shipper. This shall be at Shipper's cost. If it is not possible to return the Shipment, it may be released, abandoned, disposed of or sold without incurring any liability whatsoever to Shipper or anyone else. DHL shall have the right to destroy any Shipment if DHL is prevented by any law or law enforcement agency from returning it in whole or in part to Shipper, as well as any Shipment of Dangerous Goods.

DHL has the right to open and inspect a Shipment without notice for safety, security, customs or other regulatory reasons.

DHL's Shipment charges are calculated according to the higher of actual or volumetric weight per piece and any piece may be re-weighed and re-measured by DHL to confirm this calculation.

Payment of Customs Duties and other charges due as indicated on DHL's website in the receiving country may be requested from Consignee prior to delivery.

This includes a fee if DHL uses its credit with the Customs Authorities or pays any Customs Duties on Consignee's behalf. Shipper shall pay or reimburse DHL for all Customs Duties and other charges due for services provided by DHL or incurred by DHL on Shipper's or Consignee's behalf if Consignee has failed to pay.

6.1 DHL's liability in respect of any one Shipment transported by air (including ancillary road transport or stops en route) is limited by the Montreal Convention or the Warsaw Convention as applicable, or in the absence of such Convention, to the lower of (i) the current market or declared value, or (ii) 22 Special Drawing Rights per kilogram (approximately $US 30.00 per kilogram). Such limits shall also apply to all other forms of transportation, except where Shipments are carried only by road, when the limits below apply.

For cross border Shipments transported by road, DHL's liability is or shall be deemed to be limited by the Convention for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) to the lower of (i) current market value or declared value, or (ii) 8.33 Special Drawing Rights per kilogram (approximately $US 11.00 per kilogram). Such limits will also apply to national road transportation in the absence of any mandatory or lower liability limits in the applicable national transport law.

If Shipper regards these limits as insufficient it must make a special declaration of value and request insurance as described in Section 8 or make its own insurance arrangements.

DHL's liability is strictly limited to direct loss and damage to a Shipment only and to the per kilogram limits in this Section 6. All other types of loss or damage are excluded (including but not limited to lost profits, income, interest, future business), whether such loss or damage is special or indirect, and even if the risk of such loss or damage was brought to DHL's attention.

6.2 DHL will make every reasonable effort to deliver the Shipment according to DHL's regular delivery schedules, but these schedules are not binding and do not form part of the contract. DHL is not liable for any damages or loss caused by delay, but for certain Shipments, Shipper may be able to claim limited delay compensation under the Money Back Guarantee terms and conditions.

All claims must be submitted in writing to DHL within thirty (30) days from the date that DHL accepted the Shipment, failing which DHL shall have no liability whatsoever. Claims are limited to one claim per Shipment, settlement of which will be full and final settlement for all loss or damage in connection therewith.
DHL may be able to arrange insurance for loss of or damage to the Shipment, covering the full value of the goods, provided that Shipper so instructs DHL in writing, including by completing the insurance section of the waybill or using DHL's automated systems and pays the applicable premium. Shipment insurance does not cover indirect loss or damage, or loss or damage caused by delays.
DHL is not liable for any loss or damage arising out of circumstances beyond DHL's control. These include but are not limited to electrical or magnetic damage to, or erasure of, electronic or photographic images, data or recordings; any defect or characteristic related to the nature of the Shipment, even if known to DHL; any act or omission by a person not employed or contracted by DHL - e.g. Shipper, Consignee, third party, customs or other government official; third party cyber-attacks or other information security related threats; "Force Majeure" - e.g. earthquake, cyclone, storm, flood, fog, war, plane crash, embargo, riot, epidemic, pandemic, civil commotion, or industrial action.
Shipper shall indemnify and hold DHL and its directors, officers, employees and agents harmless from and against all and any liabilities, losses and damages arising out of Shipper’s failure to comply with the following warranties and representations:
  • the Shipment is acceptable for transport under Section 2 above,
  • the Shipment was prepared in secure premises by reliable persons and was protected against unauthorized interference during preparation, storage and any transportation to DHL,
  • Shipper has complied with applicable export control, sanctions, customs laws and regulations or other applicable regulatory requirements and restrictions related to the import, export, transit or transfer of goods,
  • Shipper has declared to DHL any controlled dual-use or military goods subject to government authorizations contained in the Shipment,
  • Shipper has provided all information, permits, licenses or other government authorizations and documents, as required by applicable law or upon request from DHL, and all information, permits, licenses or other government authorizations and documents provided by Shipper or its representatives are true, complete and accurate, including the value and description of the goods and Shipper and Consignee information,
  • when providing personal data to DHL, Shipper has complied with its legal obligations to process and share this data, including informing the affected individuals that personal data, including Consignee’s email address and mobile phone number, is required for transport, customs clearance and delivery.
Shipper agrees to all routing and diversion, including the possibility that the Shipment may be carried via intermediate stopping places.
Any dispute arising under or in any way connected with these Terms and Conditions shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of, and governed by the law of the country of origin of the Shipment and Shipper irrevocably submits to such jurisdiction, unless contrary to applicable law.
The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision shall not affect any other part of these Terms and Conditions.

General Conditions for Performing Postal Services

(hereinafter: the "General Conditions")

"Consignor" confirms on its own behalf and on behalf of the consignee of the shipment (hereinafter: "consignee") and all other persons interested in the shipment that he/she agrees that these General Conditions will be applicable. "Consignor" and "consignee" are "users" of DHL services.

"Shipment" means all shipments that travel under a single airwaybill and that can be transported by any means selected by DHL, including air, road or other modes of transport.

"Airwaybill" (acknowledgment of receipt) includes all shipment or document identification marks created by DHL's or consignor's automated systems, such as a label, bar code, airwaybill or bill of lading, as well as all electronic versions thereof. The airwaybill must contain all the elements on the basis of which the shipment can be identified, such as the name or title and address of the consignee, shipment number, date of receipt, weight, value, description of contents, transport fee charged and other information about the shipment.

Each shipment is transported on the basis of limited liability, as stated in these General Conditions. If the consignor requests more protection, insurance can be arranged for an additional fee. DHL means any member of the DHL Express Network.

Terms of storage of manipulative documents:

DHL is obliged to keep manipulative documents as follows:

  1. Money documents (invoices for performed postal services) - 10 years
  2. Airwaybill (Receipt of shipment) - 3 years
  3. List of proof of delivery - 3 years
  4. Service contract - 10 years after its expiration (termination)
  5. Documentation for performing customs operations shall be kept within the deadlines prescribed by the Customs Law.
  6. In the event that a court dispute is conducted in a case, the manipulative documents related to that case shall be kept until the final conclusion of the court dispute.

Delivery of the shipment without objection from the consignee is a presumption, except for proof to the contrary, that it was delivered in good condition and in accordance with the transport document.

If the user considers that the shipment was not delivered to the consignee or that it was delivered late, that the specially agreed obligation was not fulfilled or that it was not fulfilled in full, he can file a complaint within 60 (sixty) days for domestic shipments and within 6 (six) months for international shipments, counting from the day DHL accepted the shipment.

In cases of damage or reduction of the contents of the postal item, the user can file a complaint no later than the next working day, and within 60 days from the date of delivery of the item submit a request for compensation and file a complaint to the Agency.

Complaints are submitted by the consignor or consignee of the shipment as a user of the DHL service, which relates to the service provided.

Complaints are submitted in writing, on a special form (Claim form), available at customer service and DHL branches, either in electronic form, or in writing or by phone. Complaints can be submitted in writing directly at any DHL branch in the Republic of Serbia or electronically to the e-mail for complaints: info-rs@dhl.com. Upon receipt of a written complaint, DHL is required to issue a written or electronic acknowledgment of receipt of the complaint with the indicated number. Upon receipt of a telephone complaint, DHL is obliged to inform the customer in writing or orally about the received complaint with the indicated number through its customer care service.

The complaint contains the date of filing the complaint, the airwaybill number, name, surname and address of the consignor and consignee, as well as information on the value of the shipment, if the subject of the complaint is a valuable shipment, and information on the person in charge of receiving the complaint.

DHL will respond to the complaint as soon as possible, no longer than 8 days from the date of receipt of the complaint. The response to the complaint must contain a clear statement with an appropriate explanation.

In the case of complex complaints, when for objective reasons DHL is not able to resolve the user's complaint within the legal deadline, it is obliged to inform the user about the extension of the deadline and the new deadline for resolving the complaint. Extension of the deadline for resolving a complaint on the same request is possible only once with the consent of the user of postal services.

The deadline for resolving accepted complaints cannot be longer than 15 days from the day of receipt of the complaint.

DHL is obliged to keep records of received complaints in electronic form and to keep it for at least two years from the day of submitting the complaint.

Against the decision of the postal operator to reject the complaint, the user may file a complaint to the Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (hereinafter: the Agency) within 15 days from the date of receipt of the decision on the complaint.

The user may also file a complaint to the Agency for failure of DHL to submit a decision on the submitted complaint.

The complaint to the Agency does not exclude the right for judicial protection in accordance with the Law.

These General Conditions are primarily intended for all users of the DHL service, provided that a Service Agreement is signed with individual users, which in certain provisions may deviate from the General Conditions, but in any case must comply with the Postal Law.

The Service Agreement is considered concluded by signing the Service Agreement between the contracting parties, in written or electronic form, in accordance with the Law governing the electronic document.

The contracting parties are DHL and the Service User.

By signing the Agreement, it is considered that the user was aware or must have known these General Conditions at the time of concluding the Agreement and that he agrees with it.

An integral part of the Service Agreement is a non-transferable Airwaybill, issued by DHL for each individual shipment, as well as the terms of the contract, which are located on the back of each Airwaybill.

The consignor is responsible for the accuracy of the data on the airwaybill regardless of whether the data were entered by himself or by DHL on the basis of the data communicated to DHL by the consignor.

In the event that the Service Agreement has not been concluded with the user, the Airwaybill shall be signed, which shall be deemed to be in force upon the Access Agreement and all provisions of these General Conditions shall apply.

17.1 Liability for shipments in domestic transport

In the event of loss or total or partial damage to the contents of the shipment, or exceeding the deadline for transport and delivery of the shipment in domestic transport, DHL's liability is limited to:

1. For loss or complete damage of a valuable postal item - the amount marked on the item increased by transport fee collected by value and ten times the amount of transport fee charged for that item reduced by transport fee by value;

2. For partial damage or reduction of the contents of a valuable postal item - the amount of the determined part of the damage or reduction of the content, provided that the amount may not exceed the amount that would be paid pursuant to item 1 of this paragraph;

3. For loss or complete damage of a registered postal item - ten times the amount of transport fee collected;

4. For partial damage or reduction of the content of a registered postal item - the amount of the determined part of the damage or reduction of the content, provided that the amount may not exceed the amount that would be paid pursuant to item 3 of this paragraph;

5. For non-executed, incomplete or incorrectly performed postal service of a registered postal item - five times the amount of collected transport fee;

6. For exceeding the deadline for delivery of a registered postal item - three times the amount of transport fee collected.

Indirect damages or lost profits are not taken into account when calculating damages.

DHL is obliged to compensate the damage defined in this section to the user who paid the transport fee for the transfer of that shipment.

17.2 Liability for shipments in international transport

DHL's liability in respect of any shipment carried by air (including escort or way stations) is limited by the Montreal Convention or the Warsaw Convention, which is applicable, or in the absence of such a convention, to the lower of the following amounts: (i) current market or reported value, or (ii) 22 Special Drawing Rights per kilogram (approximately $ 30.00 per kilogram). Such restrictions also apply to all other modes of transport, except when shipments are transported only by road, when the restrictions listed below are applicable.

For shipments transported across the border by road, DHL's liability is limited or will be considered limited by the Convention on the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) to the lower of the following amounts: (i) current market or declared value, or (ii) 8.33 Special drawing rights per kilogram (approximately $ 11.00 per kilogram).

If the Consignor deems these amounts relating to damages to be insufficient, it must draw up a separate declaration of value and request insurance as described in section 19 or arrange insurance independently.

DHL's liability for international shipments is strictly limited to direct loss of and damage to the shipment and solely within the limits per kilogram defined in this section. All other types of losses and damages are excluded (including, but not limited to, lost profits, income, interest, future business), whether such loss or damage is special or indirect and even if DHL's attention is drawn to the risk of such loss or damage.

DHL will make every reasonable effort to deliver the shipment in accordance with DHL's delivery deadlines as defined in Section 9 of these General Conditions. DHL shall not be liable for any damage or loss due to delay caused by force majeure, user failure or circumstances beyond DHL's control set forth in Section 18 of these General Conditions. For certain shipments, the consignor may be entitled to claim limited compensation for delay based on the terms and conditions of the money back guarantee, which can be found on DHL's website (www.dhl.com) or obtained by calling DHL's customer service department.

DHL shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising out of circumstances beyond DHL's control. This includes, without limitation, electrical or magnetic damage or erasure of electronic or photographic images, data or recordings; any defect or characteristic relating to the nature of the shipment, even if they were known to DHL; any action or omission of a person who is not employed by DHL or has a contractual relationship with DHL - e.g. consignor, consignee, third party, customs or other civil servant; "Force majeure" - e.g. earthquake, cyclone, storm, flood, fog, war, plane crash, embargo, riots, civil unrest or strike, excluding a potential strike by DHL employees.

DHL may be able to arrange insurance to cover value in the event of loss or damage to a shipment, provided that the shipper provides such instructions to DHL in writing. In this case, the user fills in a special part of the form on the front of the airwaybill or via automated DHL systems, and pays the applicable premium. Shipment insurance does not cover indirect loss or damage, or loss or damage caused by delay.

The consignor will indemnify DHL and release it from liability for any loss or damage incurred in connection with the consignor's failure to comply with the following warranties and obligations:

  • that all information provided by the consignor or his representatives is complete and accurate;
  • that the shipment is acceptable for transport, in accordance with the provisions of these General Conditions;
  • that the shipment is prepared in secure premises by trusted persons, and protected from unauthorized contact during preparation, storage and any mode of transport to DHL;
  • that the consignor has complied with all applicable customs, import and export laws and laws on data protection, sanctions, embargoes and other laws and regulations; and
  • that the consignor has obtained all necessary consents regarding the personal data provided to DHL, including the consignee data required for transport, customs clearance and delivery, such as e-mail address and mobile phone number.

Any dispute arising out of or in any way connected with these General Conditions is subject, in favor of DHL, to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts as well as the laws of the country of origin, so the consignor and the shipment are irrevocably subject to the jurisdiction of such court and law, unless this is contrary to applicable law.

The nullity or impossibility of application of any provisions of these General Conditions shall not affect other parts of these General Conditions.

These General Conditions shall enter into force on the day of the adoption of the Decision on approval of the General Conditions of the postal operator issued by the Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services - RATEL.

On the day these General Conditions enter into force, the General Conditions registered under number 1-04-34502-17/20-3 dated 15 October 2020 shall cease to be valid and the provisions of these General Conditions will replace in their entirety the provisions of the previous General Conditions.

Valid September 1, 2021
Belgrade, March 2021
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