- I Paid A Bribe
- 14 years ago
- 331 views
Television from Singapore
- Customs, Excise and Service Tax
- Customs Check and Clearance
- Paid INR 1,000
Almost 100% families that visit Singapore tend to buy LCD/LED TVs from Singapore to take them back to India cos of sheer difference in prices.
I was one of them, knowing that the duty free allowance is 25k while entering India, i made sure that my purchase of a LCD TV is below 25k in Singapore currency, although the price in India was way above Rs.50k.
And to my horror, the customs officer at Hyderabad Airport told me that the duty is calculated with actual price in India.
Now suppose the price in India is Rs. 60k, they would reduce Rs.25k (allowable limit) and charge 35% of (60-25) ~12k as duty, which doesnt make any sense that the duty is charged on basis of current price in India.
I had no other option than to pay a bribe of Rs. 1k to save the rest Rs.11k.
The crime here is bigger than just a bribe cos the officers are actually fabricating a story to gulp money from tourists. When I checked the customs website, it was clearly mentioned on it that the actual price paid is to be considered while calculating the custom duty and not the price in *******