“After my driver paid IRs 17,000 to a middleman in Pani Tanki border point, the SSB personnel let us cross the border within 30 minutes,” claimed Om Katuwal, a truck entrepreneur in Jhapa. “There were over 100 trucks in front of us, but we were given the green signal to pass after we paid the money,” he said.
According to him, dozens of middlemen have been deployed to collect bribes from truck drivers at the border point. “Middlemen cannot demand bribes without the involvement of the SSB,” added Katuwal.
The SSB personnel, customs officials and Bangal police stop vehicles from crossing the border citing orders from the higher authorities. But they allowed the vehicles to pass if the money demanded by them is paid, claimed a source. According to the source, Indian officials demand between IRs 10,000 and IRs 35,000 from each consignment trucks seeking to cross the border.
According to a customs agent, each consignment trucks has to pay IRs 15,000 per day as detention charge for stopping at the customs point. Nepalese consider it better to pay IRs 10,000 to IRs 15,000 and cross the border immediately instead of stopping for 10 to 15 days to get a green signal.
After numerous complaints about having to bribe Indian officials, a team of Nepalese government officials and entrepreneurs had voiced their objection to the Indian side. However, the behavior of the Indian authorities has not changed.
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