Be No Fool!
"They played good-cop-bad-cop and said well, we should be confiscating your license and you can visit station across the highway. He just took out his ticket-book and demanded original license to be handed over to him."
"I was caught by a traffic cop who chased me down in a bike. He demanded I pay Rs. 2000 in the court or Rs 1100 to him. I chose the latter."
Many a time, it’s sheer ignorance that lands us in trouble with traffic police. Not fully knowing rules always works in the corrupt policemen’s favour who invents convenient rules on the spot (and the award for the best impromptu creative thinker goes to…)
Take this for instance- Policemen often hold traffic violators for ransom by threatening to confiscate their drivers licence if a challan is to be produced as in the case of this respondent from Pune. Did you know that no such rule existed? You could either pay the fine on the spot in exchange for a receipt or simply pay your due at the court.
In another case, this respondent paid 11 times the stipulated fine amount for using mobile phone while driving. Any guesses as to why the policeman was more advantaged?
Quit being oblivious to rules and regulations, whether it is related to municipal services or the police, keep your eyes, ears and mind wide open to be quick enough to counter bribe demands. Perhaps one should consider making this the official anti-petty corruption slogan. Otherwise, policemen shall continue having a field day while we continue morphing into dunces.