- Bribe Fighter
- 13 years ago
- 2510 views
Did not pay bribe for electronic goods
I had returned from a trip from US. I had bought a musical keyboard. This was a new model with a feature called "synthesizer mode". There is another class of electronic musical instruments called "synthesizer" which are very expensive. But this was only a keyboard and cost was only $350. Initially the customs guy tried to trick me saying this model is not listed in their system, but it is synthesize and the minimum price for any synthesizer in his system is $1000, so the tax would be roughly over $300. But I produced proper documents to show that it is only a keyboard worth $350. Then he pointed at a used $20 cordless phone that I had also put in the same package. Normally used goods are not chargeable, but he wanted to try to push me for bribe. I told him to include the phone also and calculate the tax I have to pay. He put $30 for the phone and calculated. The tax was hardly about Rs 1200. He was asking to pay Rs 500. But I paid the tax instead. Felt great to disappoint a corrupt customs guy!