Money flies out of the window !
A journey abroad is always fraught with excitement. New places to see, new cultures to absorb and new experiences to collect. If your paperwork is in place and you are ready to fly out a moment’s notice, lucky you ! But there are others who often need to get a new passport or renew it at a moment’s notice -company sending them off on an urgent overseas assignment, a personal emergency, a sudden plan materialising. In these circumstances, the excitement is often accompanied by the sobering thought of long hours spent in the passport office.
Here’s why.
Recently ipaidabribe.com calculated the number of bribes reported as paid to the Passport Department, under various circumstances. The number was a shocking 312.
We also noticed that the maximum bribes are paid at the time of police verification, a critical part of the application process.
“ I applied for a re-issue of my passport after it expired. I had moved to a new home and so had to attend verification at two police stations. One for my current address and the other for my previous address. The police officer at the police station for my previous address was very cordial and I had no problems with him. But the police at my current address were always irritable. Although I had all the documents with me (my current address was my own) he insisted on various other documents asking me to get the builder's possession certificate for my flat, company letter, and the like. He asked for money and I offered him Rs.100 as I heard that was the standard rate if all documents were in order. However he deemed it as too little and we started haggling. It was already 3 months since I had put in my application. I was already frustrated by the whole experience and I eventually paid him 500 which I now realize I shouldn't have and am ashamed of it.”
There were other stories.
“I was here for my Passport inquiry after the same was done at Bhavnagar city as i had resided here in Ahmedabad for 3 years which was a condition in the criteria for passport verification. My data was clear, and all documents attached were perfect. On completion of the process the verifying authority sitting there informed me that ` your passport will be processed but asked me to pay for `chai nasta’ in the sense that he was informing me to pay some amount. And he also asked me what I paid in Bhavnagar for clearance of the same. Actually there was no payment of such type made by me in Bhavnagar but what i think is, it is prevalent through out the department. Bribes may be ranging from Rs. 100 depending on the case of the applicant. I would like to bring this to the notice of the department and take punitive action against those caught taking such bribe. A sting operation would definitely work if it is carried out by some journalist.”
With the police being identified ( see other reports on ipaidabribe.com) as one of the most corrupt departments in India, local citizens do not stand a chance of getting their work done, bribe free. The police department maintains a social contract with the citizens it is honour and duty bound to protect and safeguard but the above stories all qualify for the breaching of this unspoken agreement.
“ I had gone with my friend for a police verification for his passport application. We didn’t pay bribe. So the application has not been processed by the police. I think the police will not process it until we go and pay the bribe ? “
So here is what ipaidabribe spokesperson and ex-bureaucrat, TR Raghunandan had to say in reply.
“ I am glad that you didn't pay a bribe! Demanding bribes for passport verification is a common problem. The situation is one where the police know that you have no choice, and so extract a price from you. They delay the process deliberately to push the citizen into paying a bribe to speed up the process.
When you come across instances such as this, I would suggest that you make a written complaint about such a case to the vigilance authorities mentioned in the website of the External Affairs Ministry, at http://passport.gov.in/
The website clearly mentions that the police is supposed to verify the details and documents of the applicant and that it does not require the applicant to produce himself before the police. However, in most cases, the police violate this provision and try to demand bribes, mainly because they are confident that the applicants are ignorant of the rules. In our 'I paid a bribe' reports, you do come across cases where the applicant was called to the station and some wherein the police came to the applicant's neighbourhood to verify the details.
Please also file an RTI application with the Passport office to find out what has happened to your application if it is delayed. When encountering the police, please mention to the police that you know your rights and that you will complain to higher authorities if they demand a bribe. There are several instances reported in our - `I didn’t pay a bribe’ section where citizens have successfully resisted demands for bribes for the issue of passports and for the police verification.
It is only if we stand up and be firm about not paying a bribe that things will change. “
Hopefully, this will bring about the much needed change in the system.
_AR