- I Paid A Bribe
- 13 years ago
- 1859 views
Bike rental shop didn't provide a helmet, stopped at a road block
- Police
- Traffic Violations
- Paid INR 700
When traveling through Goa I decided to rent a scooter to explore the area. The bike rental place told me a helmet wasn't required (although I should have done my own research using legitimate records). I was riding along a highway from Palolem to Panaji when I was stopped by a police road block.
The moustachioed official told me that I was breaking the law. Fair enough, I thought, though it did contradict what I was warned, this is an official police officer.
He told me that this offense would incur a hefty fine, but told me if I paid half he would let me go. I ended up paying him 700 rupees, for which he wrote me a ticket and I was on my way. When I got back to my hotel, I looked at the ticket and found that the charge was about 150Rs, and that he had pocketed the remaining 550.
This type of behaviour I later learned is not uncommon
especially in touristic areas of India. These actions undermine the authority of the Police in general. The general consensus from many travelers I met were "if you see a policeman while riding a scooter, do not stop, for they are corrupt". The police are in place to "police" and make people safer. This needs to stop.