Fortunately, so far, we have been pretty much isolated from this issue. I am sure it is waiting to happen and again, renting an apartment provided a bit of isolation since gas connection, water, electricity etc are taken care. Thanks to privatization, private companies like AirTel, TataSky etc do isolate you from these, at least at the common customer level. The people who come for service like installers, furniture delivery folks do expect some tips (in the order of Rs. 100 or 150) but it is rare that they demand it. Folks from TataSky even declined to take Rs. 100, which was a surprise. However, never paid any charges to people directly from companies like LG etc. Overall, I would say things have improved a bit - like in US, at least this is a not a initial shocker to manage. Once you start on your own with house, I am sure you can't avoid these things.
Only case where I felt like I paid a corrupt person was for a cop - driver made a U-turn in a place where there was a clear board of no U-turn. He got thru' first time ok, in spite of we warning him ("I have done this before here"). Second time, we weren't so lucky and there was the cop waiting. He demanded flat Rs. 100. I was expecting a receipt but he gave a blank look and had to move away. Should have demanded to get a receipt - I beleive the fines are really not more than Rs. 100 or 200 anyway.
It seems like cops are corrupt but I should say whatever order is there in traffic conditions is due to them. I have seen them giving tickets to bike riders without helmet (might be an easy way to make money - not quite sure how much the helmets help in the stuck traffic where speeds are pretty low). People follow some rules since they are scared of getting caught by cops and that is still good and keeps some sanity on roads.
Appreciate your feedback and comments, please leave a comment if you found this post useful (or not!) ...
Only case where I felt like I paid a corrupt person was for a cop - driver made a U-turn in a place where there was a clear board of no U-turn. He got thru' first time ok, in spite of we warning him ("I have done this before here"). Second time, we weren't so lucky and there was the cop waiting. He demanded flat Rs. 100. I was expecting a receipt but he gave a blank look and had to move away. Should have demanded to get a receipt - I beleive the fines are really not more than Rs. 100 or 200 anyway.
It seems like cops are corrupt but I should say whatever order is there in traffic conditions is due to them. I have seen them giving tickets to bike riders without helmet (might be an easy way to make money - not quite sure how much the helmets help in the stuck traffic where speeds are pretty low). People follow some rules since they are scared of getting caught by cops and that is still good and keeps some sanity on roads.
Appreciate your feedback and comments, please leave a comment if you found this post useful (or not!) ...
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