
Happy Birthday
Hari is 15 years old on Xmas Eve. This is a great opportunity for the beloved RTO (Road Traffic Office, which has a worse reputation that the Elecricity office) to make trouble because 15 year old vehicles have to be re-registered.
Must be something to do with Martin’s karma, but it all went smoothly… relatively. An initial two visits to the RTO produced two forms (without instructions) and some vague verbal procedural directions. He completed Form 25 (making only two errors) but was flummoxed by most questions on Form 1; it didn’t seem to be at all relevant. Armed with all possible documents and rubber stamps, he returned and presented. He was told that he needed another document (the six monthly PUC), that a pencil rubbing of Hari’s chassis number be glued (not stapled) to Form 25, an NPP certificate (No Prosecution Pending) and to pay a Green Tax; the last two at another RTO office in a different area of Margao.
The PUC (Pollution Under Control) was obtained although the testing machine did not appear to be working, the reading of Hari’s exhaust registering the same as fresh air.
At the second office he had to buy a ‘Green tax’ form. This turned out to be the same as Form 1 and had absolutely no reference to the said tax. Having struggled to fill it in, he went for help to another clerk who scribbled out all Martin’s efforts and just wrote Green tax on the form. Then it was on to ‘No Prosecution Pending’ clerk. With only a cursory glance,he just rubber-stamped it. Job done. Now return to Office 1.
To cut it short, three different officials checked that he had paid the Green Tax, two of them twice. The next instructions were to return in four days to collect the paperwork. ‘Then is finished? No more visits?’ said Martin in best pidgin English. Lots of head shaking followed… this means yes.
Four days later Martin arrived to be told that he couldn’t collect the papers, he should have turned up before 12. Three days later he turned up before 12 to be told to come back at 2.30. Nothing doing, Martin had patients… but he was told that the 2.30 presentation was for a vehicle inspection. ‘What inspector inspecting?’, says Martin. ‘Me, not knowing’ was the answer. Nobody else knew and the Assistant Vehicle Inspector wouldn’t tell him.
Eventually the inspection took place, such as it was. One look at the chassis number and job done. Others who were being inspected were getting a right going over, so God knows what Martin got right. Probably paying the Green Tax was the trick. An officialised bribe maybe? Who knows, nothing is what it seems here.
Papers to be collected on Xmas Eve, God willing.