- Bribe Fighter
- 9 years ago
- 4344 views
Rs. 5000 bribe demanded to close my existing application, & open a new one
* Not sure of the name. But she sits in the Worli head office, and hers is the cabin bang opp. the office entrance.
* It was some time in March 2014. It has been a year now, and unfortunately I do not remember the actual date.
But here is what happened...
I applied for a fresh passport in Oct 2012. I had stated my permanent address on it, but not my current address (since both differ). I accept that was my mistake. But being a first time applicant, I wasn't aware that it was mandatory to update the current address as well. So when the Police verification failed on my permanent address, I wanted to find out from the passport office what went wrong and how to re-apply for a fresh passport if need be.
In March 2014 I received a letter from the Passport office saying:
1) The photograph in my application does not tally with the applicant
2) The personal particulars do not belong to the applicant
3) I have not resided at the given address for the period stated
and, beat this point...
4) I am not a citizen of India
Seriously???
Nonetheless, with the decision to make things right, I went to the Passport office and the response I received from the officer was demeaning.
She said I had misled the government by giving false information, and that I was to write a letter of apology and pay Rs. 5000 to close my application. I asked her to first write a receipt and then I would make a payment. She insulted me and asked me to leave. One year later, I went to the office again with the hopes of probably closing the current application, and making a new one. This time, I took a few people with me inside her cabin, she asked for the money, I said I wouldn't unless she wrote a receipt. She got angry once again, but on seeing the crowd, closed the application without another word. And I thought my woes had ended.
But when I re-applied, and went to the local passport office to submit my papers, the officer there told me that he would take my papers, but that I would need to go to the Worli office and pay the penalty towards my previous application. When I asked him what the amount was, he hadn't got a clue. He told me to go there and find out. When I argued that he works with the ministry and deals with these cases everyday, he said "mujhe woh sab nahi pata, tum udhar jaake madam se pooch lo."
What does this mean? I am truly frustrated!