- I Paid A Bribe
- 13 years ago
- 8717 views
Custom Officers at Hyderabad RGIA Airport are lucky!
- Customs, Excise and Service Tax
- Customs Check and Clearance
- Paid INR 6,000
I travel to Hyderabad once every year to visit my parents. The officers at customs are like hungry jackals/vultures waiting for passengers with any sign of opulence. I had to pay 6000 as the office deemed my used videocam (sony 3 years old) as article of interest. The bank that is supposed to take the fine is 'out of working hours' and hence my option is to wait till 6am and pay the fine or pay the officer some part of it and get out. There is no grievance handling and the officers seem to be making a couple of lakhs each and every night! If you are carrying a TV, irrespective of whether it is a CRT, LCD, LED, Plasma they have fixed rates. 32 inches - 1000Rs, 40 Inches - 3000Rs, 50 inches - 5000Rs. I saw a person who had a receipt from the store showing that he bought a display set at around 27,000INR (converted from SGD). The customs officer wanted him to pay 4000Rs or leave the TV at the counter and come back after 2 days for a technical evaluator to come and look at the piece.
This planned blood sucking of customs leaves a bad taste for everyone traveling into Hyderabad. But i hear Hyderabad is better than Kolkota or Chennai!