- Bribe Fighter
- 9 years ago
- 7080 views
Was asked for "Bakshish" for Passport delivery
First of all, I would like to mention, that, getting a passport, in a city like Pune needs no bribe to be paid, contrary to the majority of the opinion within my friend's circle, at least.
Most of them, who had applied their passports from smaller cities/towns, during their college days, would bet that paying a bribe for the police verification was necessary.
I found that they have a separate section for Passport applicants at the Chaturshrungi Police Station, and there are always applicants in the queue. I had to submit a form in the morning, and then asked me to come in the evening. I doubted that may be that would be the time to bribe. But not, then too, the place was filled with a lot of applicants, and 5-6 people were interviewed at a time by the senior inspector.
Finally it took around 1 month for the police verification to complete, and the passport was dispatched via speed post. The postman didn't find me, so left a note. I called him and he asked me to come to Post Office next day. There were a lot of people there. He took my signature and called me outside the office. There were a lot of people there too. He handed over the passport to me and asked if I would give him some "bakshish". I politely declined saying, "But is part of your normal duty". He said, it is okay if I don't have anything to give. And that's it! Have my passport without paying a penny!
Note - I do not want to divulge any more details about the Post office.