Paisa Bolta Hai

Corruption , this word is such a commoner for us but how many times do we actually
get inflicted by it , how many of us and how many times do we really get hit directly ...We just discuss that yeah so much of corruption is there and then just let go ...

I recently had to get some RTO work done and throughout this entire process I felt stupid and to a certain extent I felt impotent and miserable . Certainly this experience have been really instrumental in teaching me great virtues - patience and tolerance. But at what price??? wasting hours standing , extremely rude behavior and what not ...

I had to get NOC cancellation done alongwith transfer of vehicle in my name which
costs around 300 bucks and the process completion takes around 30 days completely.Many of my friends , relatives,parents told not to get into this hassle and get the work done by an agent who would charge say 3000 but then at that time with my energy levels high decided not to BRIBE and in my mind was its we who MAKE or BREAK.

Boldly I headed to KormAngala RTO with now i would say extremely high hopes .The first counter I interacted with was very good and the lady there helped me go to the correct person. I was asked to finish up with my inquiry at another counter from where it all started .

I was asked to show a receipt(which I didn't have ) to a person who was sitting at the back side of the office desk. This person asked me to wait till he gets a receipt number .I tried calling the agent who this owner has engaged to get the number but I was lucky that day , that agent has switched his fone off. So I wanted to know of an alternative from this guy but even after my multiple attempts in reaching out to him he kept telling me that he was busy. While waiting, I saw a person (possibly someone like me) giving 200 rupees to this officer's sidekick and saying aloud in very clear words that he will pay him a 100 more after the work gets done ( All this was said in kannada and I know this bcoz an agent told me the same that these officers will never talk to you but only to us and its the money which speaks , wat u say" paisa bolta hai ") After making me wait for more than an hour my lucky moment came and the officer called me, asked me the vehicle number , checked the status online and told the process is very difficult and could be done but it DEPENDS .This entire task took him less than a minute for which I spent my hours .
The process is deliberately designed in such a way that a person is completely lost about what he is supposed to do and compelled to offer bribes and I too had to succumb to my limitations (vehicle owner was leavin bangalore in next 5 days so i had to complete the process in that time span) and I hired a tout and paid him 3500 bucks and came to office .

In my office when I narrated the entire story of this injustice and expressed my strong desire to launch some complaint , take at least some action such as filing a complaint, meeting higher ups like RTO officer or even reporting it by some means to higher (who, by the way, are not elected), the MLA /MP /ward officer or other elected individuals who supposedly have far too many other grass routes problems & for a huge variety of people, particularly the poorer sections since they are the ones that vote, mostly. My problem will thus seem quite insignificant to them since their voters do not have free piped water, no drainage, expensive power, no proper roads to settlements, etc & these become much more important priorities.My issue pales in comparison on this priority list for those elected, though they still are accountable /answerable to all classes of people, including me.

Why is it that people who are supposed to interact with the public are sitting at the back of the office? Wont it be more efficient and transparent if all such counters are in the front?

NOC process does not look complicated for it to make a citizen deal with multiple counters. Why is it that all the formalities cant be completed at a single counter?

Instead of giving me a flimsy receipt, why am I not given a clean and clear acknowledgment which says they have received everything needed so that if needed I can hold them to account?

Why is it that the entire process is not put on the RTO website in clear terms?

Why am I compelled to BRIBE to make someone do his job for which hez already paid ?

One should do a lot of things. In the end it all boils down to what fight to pick.
For me my fight was to pick or not to pick the tout and I lost my battle :( but
I will surely win another one and its WE who can win it together by not promoting these touts !