- I Paid A Bribe
- 13 years ago
- 2558 views
Train Robbery
I was travelling from my hometown in Trichur to Trivandrum on a Sunday night. I got a ticket for a "seat" but decided to upgrade to 3-tier AC berth on the train. The plan was to get the upgrade after talking to the TTE on-board the train. This is normal practice and the TTE is supposed to provide an upgrade if there are any berths available which there were.
Then started the bribery ritual. The TTE had a stern look and asked me to wait at the entrance of the coach. I had already noticed many empty berths on the coach and it being a night train there were few chances of anyone getting on in between. But he said there were no berths available on AC3 and asked me to go into AC2 which is about 1 1/2 times the charge of AC3.
I went and waited in the AC2 coach and after 20 minutes, he came with another passenger. From the conversation, I understood that the TTE did not plan to give about Rs 50 change for "favors" provided. When my turn came, he not only did not give me change (Rs 44), but also asked me for another Rs 50 muttering under his breath that he was doing me a favor by only asking for a fifty unlike other who would routinely charge Rs 100 etc for this huge favor!
When would this robbery stop? Make the availability status transparent and let the station counter provide the upgraded ticket if available, instead of having to be preyed on by greedy, unethical, and shameless government servants.