- Bribe Fighter
- 11 years ago
- 4361 views
Demand to pay bribe to register a partnership
Abribe was requested by the official registering a partnership - in West Bengal. My Indian partner and I, a UK citizen, refused to pay and used our influence to over-awe the bribe-requester.
I write this because I am listening to the BBC Radio 4 programme - Your MOney - coming from New Delhi as I write. I wish to make the fundamental point that Indian corruption at the "retail" level is simply a form of discretionary transaction tax. If the vast civil service of India were reformed so that people worked each hour they were paid - and were paid for each hour they worked - and were paid a decent salary, the culture of bribery would decline rapidly, and disappear in a generation. Higher government salaries require an effective and very widely based tax system - both on transactions and on income. These forms of taxation are hopelessly disorganised in India. That, in my view, is the root of the problem.