- मैंने रिश्वत दी
- 11 years ago
- 2696 दर्शनों की संख्या
Last time, when I was returning from a official trip from Dubai,…
- Airports
- Immigration Check
- Paid INR 1,500
Last time, when I was returning from a official trip from Dubai, I decided to buy myself a LCD TV (Samsung 32 inches), since, the price was almost half compared to prices in India. The total cost of the TV I paid in INR was around Rs 35000 and I had read the customs file stating that LCD TVs of value Rs 32000 can be bought from overseas without any duty.
I had a made up my mind that, I'll pay 30% import duty for the over limit (Rs 3000), which would be around Rs 900 at the customs in Bangalore airport. In this regard, I had the original bill and the exchange rate value with me, to be shown to the customs officials.
On my arrival at the Airport, I duly declared the excess amount and was called aside by a customs officer. I explained him the scenario and informed him my willingness to pay the excess duty. But, to my surprise and shock, he began explaining that the bill amount and the conversion rate doesn't matter to him and retrieved a folder which contains the price amount in India for all the TV models. According to the file, the price value of my TV was Rs 60000 and hence, I need to pay the duty amount of Rs 8400. Further, he added whether I wanted to pay this amount or am I willing to take care of him on the sides. I understood his true intentions and ended by paying 100 Dirhams, which I had with me.
This entire episode left me ashamed of breaking the law and my inability in standing up to the corrupt official with his demands for bribe :(