Why you must seek reasons
The fifth commandment in ipaidabribe’s book of ten commandments -- seeking reasons from officials will save you from paying a bribe
‘I was driving along Nagar road in Pune for a meeting. Just as I turned towards Kalayaninagar, I got a phone call and my natural instinct was to pick it up. At the junction was a policewoman who immediately stopped and demanded my license. I gave her my license and she demanded Rs. 600/- for the fine. When I asked her on what basis was it Rs. 600/- she could not give me a proper reply. I insisted on seeing the Traffic rule book without which I was not willing to pay the prescribed amount. I even told her that I will fight it out in court and whether she could issue a challan so that I can appear in court. She said that we had to go to the police station which we did at Yerwada. The inspector too was trying to browbeat me into paying Rs. 600/- or accept a challan after surrendering my vehicle. When I asked them to explain to me the basis of Rs. 600/- they told Rs. 100 for driving while using a mobile phone (which was my fault for sure) and Rs. 500/- for 'rash driving'. Time and again, I had to explain to them that I would not have been driving at more than 5 km/h they finally relented and charged me Rs. 100/- and gave me a receipt and let me go.’
This bribe report as shared by a citizen on ipaidabribe.com manages to strike a chord with most of us, as we have encountered similar instances of palm greasing in our interactions with the government officials. Be it at the macro level of our economic and political structure or at the micro level of our everyday social and governmental interfaces, corruption has become a bitter pill that people have inevitably learnt to swallow. But this report is a little unique as it highlights the experiences of a person who successfully and rightfully escapes the situation without paying a bribe demanded by the police officials. This is seldom the case as bribes are most appealing to an individual when he is caught between a corrupt official and complicated rules and regulations. However, our bribe fighter leaves no scope for any compromise as he constantly questions and seeks answers from the officials on every action they undertake in this interaction.
No wonder that his actions are in line with the fifth commandment in the series of ipaidabribe.com’s 10 Commandments which were formulated from such citizen reports as reported by bribe resistors and fighters in their dealings with corrupt officials.
How often have you questioned an officer for the basis of the fine imposed on you? How often have you found yourself questioning a civic authority when he refuses to pass your file citing reasons like incomplete and inappropriate documentation? Despite having followed procedures and submitted the right papers, it is common that your file is just another addition to the numerous other pending ones accumulated over years in our government offices. Rightfully titled ‘Seek Reasons’, this fifth commandment, offers a very simple solution to the corruption menace and serves as an effective tool in mitigating corruption.
Often, one is fraught with the fear of long waiting hours and facing corrupt officials when any work needs to be done at government offices. Lack of procedural awareness gives scope to a lot of irrelevant bottlenecks and unwanted exploitation of citizens. On the other hand if one is well-informed with the procedures and seeks answers from erring officials, one is well-equipped to deal with potential roadblocks in the system. Seeking questions will also reinforce the various rules and regulations that our uniformed officers have long forgotten in their pursuit for those extra bucks.
It’s time that we acknowledge bribery as a major issue in face of our fraudulent system. Rather than taking it as a given evil in our lives, let’s ask questions, seek answers and initiate the process of change. It’s time to bell the corrupt official!
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