- I Paid A Bribe
- 14 years ago
- 244 views
No stopping them in your home!
- Stamps and Registration
- Registration of Flat or Apartment
- Paid INR 200
My wife and I lived in Pune from July to December 2010, while taking exchange courses at the University of Pune.The Foreigner's Registration Office (FRO) seems to take baksheesh very seriously. Signs are posted around the office that no bribes will be tolerated and that someone should be informed immediately if a bribe is demanded.
This does not help when an inspector comes to one's home to verify that one is living where one claims. The officer who came to our flat was happy to accept chai as he went over the documents we had submitted. When he finished, he stould up and shook my hand. A moment of awkwardness happened as my wife and I exhanegd looks, since he was not making any move towards the exit.
He smiled and, in barely a whisper, said "baksheesh?" Knowing that he could deny our registration, causing us to pay a hefty fine when we left India to return to Canada, I opted to give him Rs. 200.
This really bothered me because as a student of politics I've come to consider corruption a cancer on a society and I wanted no part in spreading it in a country that I love. Self-interest won the day, however. There is no recourse when an officer is in your flat - the options are to pay or face the consequences.