• साहसी नागरिक
  • 13 years ago
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Resolve not to pay a bribe succesful

Reported on December 2, 2011 from Bangalore , Karnataka  ι Report #31412

I am a person who cringes at the thought of doing anything illegal and on top of the list is bribing .I was delighted at the Janaagraha initiative to curb this menace and to make common citizens aware of their rights and encourage them to not be a part of perpetuating bribing. However when it came to my own situation of registering a property which I had just then purchased, I was not too sure whether I could possibly get the registration done without having to pay a bribe I had also refrained from taking the pledge that I will not pay a bribe as I knew that I would not be able to live up to the pledge. In situations such as this we all take the easy way out and hire a third party to do the dirty work for us in the name of service/professional fee and I also was inclined to do the same and was looking around for lawyers/agents who would get this done, all the while rationalizing to myself that there was no other option . (All of them confirmed that I would be required to pay) I read up all the experiences of people on “I paid a bribe “ website and found that those who did not pay were in the minority while it seemed to be the norm to pay. I started an email conversation with one ********** who did not pay a bribe and had posted his experience on the site and he encouraged me to not engage any third parties and do it on my own as that would ensure that no bribing takes place . Also the tips and advice on the site was extremely encouraging on how to go about it. I garnered all info on documents that will be reqd for registration from the Stamp and Registration website and made myself completely familiar with the process. Went to the Registrar’s office a day in advance ,found out what the stamp duty should be , got the forms that are reqd to be submitted (which are all in Kannada) got it translated so that I understood what it was that was reqd to be signed ,Got the commitment of my family as well as the Sellers that we would take this up as a challenge and ensure that we do not be a party in perpetuating this evil.
With all documents in order ,stamp duty paid for full value, I did not foresee any difficulty other than the rush at the office. We (full family & the Sellers) arrived there as the office opened, submitted the documents ( A weak attempt was made to raise objections but was quickly dropped when he was questioned on the relevance ) . We followed our documents as it went from one desk to another and kept an eagle eye to see that nobody jumped the queue, nor did we ask for our document being taken out of turn. We were mentally prepared for the long wait and being a Saturday there was a big rush.
I must commend the personnel there for their efficiency ,Did not see any slacking and they were all very friendly and helpful. Once the registration process was completed ,they did make an attempt to get something out of us (,not a demand but more like a plea),however we stuck to our resolve and did not part with any money but profusely thanked them for their efficiency.
Thank you Janaagraha for the website and the enormous learning that we got from it which enabled us to do our small bit in working towards a corruption free society

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