The Rs10,000 stamp

This is a story that will resonate with almost everybody. This is a story that is a reflection of the endemic nature of corruption in our country’s government departments, and the inhuman treatment that befalls those who have to get any work done through them.
Forget the billions that are transferred illicitly from the public’s meagre financial resources to the pockets of scavengers, it is the sub-human treatment at these places that really rankles the soul. The nature of the tale that I am sharing is nothing new. But there are certain aspects associated with this tale that people may not have considered.
This is a story of the gruelling ordeal that my friend had to go through in order to get a two decade old car transferred to his name. Not having encountered the typical government setup before, he thought that it would be a sail-through exercise with minimal effort required. Just to make sure, he went to the relevant office with a good reference.
Unfortunately for him, it turned out to be a nightmare. He made three unsuccessful sojourns to the office, returning every time with additional papers to fill out and some excuse accompanying them. On his third tour in the sweltering summer, in which I also accompanied him, he was almost stunned beyond belief after being told that the signature of the seller appeared ‘fake’. Mind you, these were the same signatures that he showed to the relevant person in the first two instances, but not a word was uttered over its validity.
As my visibly shaken friend and I made our way towards the exit, thinking what to do next, a person approached my friend, shook his hand and invited us to have a chat. He was one of the many agents that dot the premises of that office. He had met my friend the first time he had gone there, and advised him not to waste time by taking the legal route. The agent had offered him to get this job done in Rs10,000. My friend had immediately rejected his offer, insisting that he would play by the rules. After three atrocious tours and filling out many forms (plus attesting them), he came to his ‘senses’ and agreed to pay Rs10,000 to the agent for helping him get through this impossible task.
Lo and behold, a week after the payment, my friend had the registration book in his hand. And guess what? None of the signed papers or forms was required for this task. He triumphantly showed me a page where his name and address were written with a stamp and signature. My friend pointed to the stamp and signature in red colour, reminding me that this is what cost him the Rs10,000. In short, instead of paying the legally required Rs2500 registration fee, he ended up paying an extra Rs7500. Although he is happy, this episode got me thinking about a few things.
Consider first the hilarious (albeit ironic) situation where a person hires a servant for a monthly fee, but the servant ends up charging him every time for the work he does (besides extracting monthly remuneration). Funny, isn’t it? Well it doesn’t sound so funny when you consider that this is the reality of everyday life in Pakistan. In my example, the person who stamped the book and signed it was hired to do this particular job in the first place. But now he extracts illegal rents from the people from whose taxes comes his monthly salary. Ironic, is it not?
And this is not all. When he will retire after many years of ‘service’, people will still bear the brunt of ‘services’ rendered unto this hapless nation by paying him a monthly stipend, popularly known as pension (besides other perks and privileges). Now decide whether you want to laugh, smile or contemplate sadly? And I am just talking about one government department. With a few exceptions, the situation is the same regarding all government departments. The nation bears the burden of billions of rupees per day to sustain this unproductive edifice.
Because of this extractive system, one of the biggest dangers to society appears in the form of the disincentive to work hard and work honestly. I mentioned the person who stamped and signed the book. The agent told us that his qualification is not more than intermediate, and also swore that his earnings are somewhere near Rs50,000 per day. In a country where even PhDs have a hard time finding a respectable job, a job that can garner Rs50,000 per day (while requiring little qualification) is a gold mine. And who doesn’t like a gold mine? Once you consider this fact, it’s not hard to imagine why these lower level posts have such a high premium (with people willing to pay exorbitant sums for getting selected for them). It is simply because these kinds of posts offer a tremendous opportunity to extract daily rents, which in all probability is not available at higher level posts.
But this is not all. Stretch your imagination a bit. What is the effect of this person’s activities on his immediate relatives, neighbours and society as a whole? Well, the obvious message (and effect) is that it’s a waste of time to pursue higher studies and honesty since payoffs are meagre. Is it, then, any surprise then that we lag behind substantially in higher education?
In paying the extra Rs7500, my friend was not the only one who incurred this preventable loss. In fact, the loss is mainly that of the government. One can easily see this once they realise the fact (and reality) that my friend, and others like him, have no choice but to pay the government whatever sum is demanded of them for registering a vehicle in their name.
In economics, this reality is translated as the presence of a highly inelastic demand curve. So why not make this an opportunity to mint some cash flow? Why not ask the person who demands a transfer to directly deposit Rs10,000 (for example) into a government account, and ask the seller to simply furnish an oath in which he declares that he indeed sold the car for such and such sum to person XYZ? Is that not easier?
And the gravity of keeping this inefficient, corrupt and top-heavy system in place strikes clearly when one considers that daily illegal extractions like these easily cross billions of rupees all across the country. And it really does not require a genius to figure out a way to get all this money into the government kitty. Yet, somehow, these kinds of losses keep persisting. I wonder whether we will ever learn.
Tailpiece: The office of the auditor general is tasked with reporting irregularities in government departments. With the appointment of a retired babu (who is on his third extension), those in government can now stop purporting the ‘good governance’ mantra. It’s a shame.
The writer is a freelance contributor.
Email: shahid.mohmand@gmail.com
Twitter: ShahidMohmand79