Met someone at a party recently. We got talking about India and invariably the topic of corruption came up. He was a westerner and had been to India once. So, when he broached up the subject, I was curious to know what prompted his observation. He mentioned going to Elephanta caves and how he was offered a fast access (at half the price) without having to stand in the queue which he duly accepted. My first response was that he could have easily waited in the queue and bought the ticket at regular price which made him squirm a bit and not wanting to be impolite, I didnt press the issue. But it got me thinking how often what people call petty corruption is partly their own fault. I have no doubt there is corruption in India but the petty corruption that people so often complain about is very often borne out of their own desire to seek a shortcut, a favoured access or to avoid paying taxes and fines. Personally, I havent had to pay any bribes in the past fifteen or twenty years. Sure, once or twice I have been offered that option (generally by agents and service providers) but I have chosen to pay the duty or tax instead of paying the bribe and I dont remember the official holding a grudge against me. It is true that I havent spent much time in India in the past twenty-odd years and people in India are quick to point that out but I think that is missing the point. Petty corruption (often in the form of asking for tips or touting/scalping) is not unique to India but the country does have terribly inefficient systems and procedures which makes it particularly vulnerable. Yet, the root of the problem lies also in the desire or tendency to seek shortcuts, preferential access, avoid queues and cheat on taxes, duties and fines. I have seen people waiting in queues for 2-3 hours at US airports (even highly efficient HK can sometimes have waiting times of 30-45 minutes) and yet the same people would start grumbling (or seek VIP access) when they have to wait even for half an hour in a queue in India. Of course, the general chaos and lack of orderliness at public institutions and facilities in India adds to the discontent and impatience. But, thats no excuse and the fact remains that for every act of petty corruption, there are two parties and bribe giver is often as much at fault as the bribe taker. At times, I also feel there is a tendency to look down upon public sector/institutions in India. As a result, what might be a case of incompetence or inefficiency often gets branded as corruption. Over the past 12 months, I have had the rare experience of dealing with both a public sector bank and a foreign bank about account closures. It took me all of 10 minutes to submit my PPF account closure request at SBI with the account promptly closed and balance cheque duly delivered by the promised date. In stark contrast has been my experience at HSBC (where I have had an account for more than 15 years) where I am being forced to close one of the accounts because of their own decision to exit certain businesses in India. After chasing them with repeated requests/reminders for over one month, I am still at a complete loss as to when the account will close and if it will happen in time to get my licenses and assets transferred to another bank. Even getting simple acknowledgements and confirmations has taken 4-5 reminders at times. This despite the fact that I will still retain my primary account with them (perhaps I need to rethink). Now, imagine the outrage if a customer at a public sector bank had an experience even half as bad. The point being inefficiencies and incompetence in India are not the exclusive preserve of public sector entities. Every so often, private sector and MNCs can give them a good run for their money.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Dec 2013 14:04:55 +0000
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