I have been with the Excise and Taxation Department for over 20 years now and in that time have seen every trick in the book being used to con hapless citizens out of their money.

When somebody with a genuine grievance or concern comes to the excise office, they must first cross a pit of touts. These so-called agents swarm around government offices, offering to get the job done on an ‘urgent basis’ if you pay them a handsome amount.

This is pure extortion, but the complicated processes involved in registering vehicles, transferring ownership of vehicles and other such tasks sometimes force the general public to rely on these touts.

The administration does try and root them out from time to time and FIRs have been registered against them, but still they come back. They obviously have connections inside the department and are sharing their profits with their people on the inside as well, which is plain bribery.

This is supplemented by the clerks’ mafia that has a stranglehold on any work done in the excise office. They ensure that no one can get what they came for without greasing the palms of someone on the inside.

In my personal capacity, I try to redress the grievances of all those who come and complain to me about the delaying tactics used by clerks.

They can go to any extent; delaying delivery of car registration books, even though they cannot legally do so.

The touts can charge about Rs10,000 for simple registration, and from that, at least Rs4,000 goes into the pocket of corrupt clerks.

Dawn’s ‘Eye-Witness Account’ segment features accounts of individuals who have experienced adversity or have been affected by a miscarriage of justice. All accounts are verified as far as possible by Dawn’s editorial team. Readers are encouraged to send in accounts of similar incidents that may have befallen them, so that attention can be called to such problems and they can be addressed with due debate in the public eye. Readers can send their accounts to re.isb@dawn.com.

Published in Dawn January 28th, 2015

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