Folks, I find this to be an interesting topic.
The only time I travelled directly to Goa on an international flight, was via Qatar Airways from JFK to DOHA to GOA and that was some 13 months ago. The Goan Customs officer who handled my case, a gentleman named "D'Souza" was a gem of a person. He greeted me with utmost respect, courtesy and spoke to me in Konkani. Man .... I loved that! He did some basic checks on my baggage and let me out in under 5 minutes! There was no talk on any under-hand business nor any illegal transactions. I am going to head out to Goa in about a month on the same route and hope to have a repeat experience at the Goa Customs. If it happens to be ugly, you'll read about it on GoaNet. However, my experience via the Bombay Customs was a mixed bag. I almost always NEVER hand out "bakshish" to anybody and insist on paying the full duty to the government, rather than bribe a corrupt officer. One of many such incidents occured in Bombay, while I was carrying a Bose speaker set to India from the US. The officer on duty at the Bombay airport, wanted me to pay him thousands of rupees and pay only a paltry amount to the government. I refused and instead, paid the full duty to the government - in effect, the action ended up costing me more. In another incident in Bombay, the only time I ever paid a bribe, was when I was feeling sick after a rough flight. I had no energy to put up resistance with the officer - a shameless lady, whose name I didn't take and who I ended up paying some $300 - so that she would let me out, without rummaging through my baggage. But if someone gives you a bad time, I would recommend to take down the officer's name (from the name tag), date, time, flight number and post all relevant information on the INTERNET. I would also send a copy of my findings to their chief at the Central Board of Excise and Customs at New Delhi, along with a measurable dossier of the INTERNET postings on various INTERNET sites. If we do this consistently, I guarantee you, the bad officers would be more worried about losing their jobs and prestige, rather than engage in such filthy activities. On a side note, for Goans travelling to Goa from North America, I think, the Qatar Airways offers the best journey. For example, the flight leaving from JFK, reaches Goa in about 18 hours flat. It reaches Dabolim, Goa at about 3.30 am and you could be sipping your morning coffee in your own Balcao by 4.30 am - it takes me only 30 minutes to reach home at Colva from the airport. The downside, is that it sometimes costs more than other competing airlines. And there is another downside - this one has nothing to do with the airline. There is not much help you can get at 3.30 in the morning at the freakin' Goa airport. You see, there is NO public telephone at the Goa airport to make a telephone call whatsoever. So make sure you either carry a local SIM card or be willing to pay ultra high charge to your phone carrier. Jim F New York. --- On Sat, 5/21/11, Arwin Mesquita <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Arwin Mesquita <[email protected]> > Subject: [Goanet] Corrupt Goa Customs > To: "Goanet" <[email protected]> > Date: Saturday, May 21, 2011, 4:20 AM > We all talk about high level of > corruption in Goa. And in regards to the > same, I am really surprised about much we particularly > NRI's, tolerate the > same at the point of entry into Goa i.e. Dabolim Airport. > My experiences > whilst coming on International Flights in the past, > involved many times the > specific custom officer on duty, either trying to > intimidate with distorted > facts/laws or begging me to give some amount, for his > welfare I suppose!! I > feel even more for the scores of Goans working in the low > end sector e.g > maids (with respect) who are harrassed by specific custom > officers for > various amounts. I support custom fees, but this should be > for the benefit > of the state and not the specific corrupt Customs Officer. > Also I do not > believe that Goa or for that matter the Indian Government > is really serious > about weeding out corruption at Goa Customs; if they were > then how are they > allowing this open abuse for so many years at Goa's Dabolim > Airport!! > -- ... ...
