- I Paid A Bribe
- 10 years ago
- 2870 views
I am stupid becuase of declaring 30g gold
I entered with 30gm gold which I brought when I traveled to Singapore 2 years back, since the gold price is too low now (almost half) from the time I brought, decided to bring it to India instead of selling here itself. I never want to go customs, so I never used to bring dutiable items when I visit India. Even for the money I want in India, I use to transfer to my NRE bank account and withdraw in India. When I brought the Gold, and my allowance suppose to be 1KG, I declared the 30g in immigration form. I went to the red counter to make it clear properly. The officer (can't remember exact name, some north Indian name) said I can bring the Gold but need to pay customs of 10800 rupees. I said, I am ok to pay even though it is too much. Then he told I cannot pay in rupees, need to pay only in foreign currency. Due to the problem of hand carrying foreign currency and exchange in India, I use to bring only the minimum foreign currency. So I had only 60USD, 250RM and 45SGD only. He took me to the near by cubicle and asked me to pay 200RM and go. I asked I need to declare, otherwise I may need to face problem when selling the Gold. He said no need to declare you can correct the immigration form and go. So if I just left by Green counter I would have saved my 200RM. It is very threatening entering Indian airports due to these custom officers on counter, dont know when this will come to an end.