Finally got my bike down to Pune , parceling it from Hubli was a breeze and picking it from Pune went well , paid a fine of 500 bucks, apparently one has to pick the bike in 6 hours on the time of arrival . Problem is no one picked the calls I made to the parcel office and I was under the impression that I had to pick the bike in 6 working days not aware that it was 6 working hours!!
The nightmare at the station happened when at the same time I had to parcel a colleagues bike to Patna in Bihar. Firstly Pune station is very small for such a big city and there is absolutely no Railway police anywhere. When I rode the bike to the station and spent a good time looking for the parcel office.
The 1st guy I asked, hoped onto the bike and said I know people there I’ll come with you. One thing I wanted to avoid here were the touts or agents. I asked the guy to get off the bike, I told him I can do it on my own , just tell me where the parcel office is? He walked away without answering , I rode further into station and ask the rickshaw driver for the information. he says that one can push the bike onto the platform itself . Apparently one can push a bike directly on to the platform meant for the passenger. Actually there is a separate entrance but not many in the station know where it is. Luckily I saw a guy with the red mazdoor union book in his chest pocket and I ask him for confirmation he too tells me to push the bike and asks a porter near by to take me there. The porter lead me to an agent.Whom I wanted to avoid them like a plague , I know they get the work done, But I knew the process and had done the same before. The agent (Sachin) who I start to hate instantly.
Agent : Gaadi parcel karma hai ? ( you want to parcel a bike?)
Me : Han , Patna koh (yes , to Patna)
Agent :2 hazar lagenge ( it will cost you 2000 bucks )
Me: Kya 2 hazar , Nahin kud karlunga (what 2000 , I’ll manage on my own )
Agent : karlo (do it)
I approach the porter who packs the , he says 300 bucks I tried to bargain with him a little and he just walked away. I waited there for some time , not realizing that the the porter doesn't pack unless the agent asks them to. I approach the porter again and agreed to pay the 300 bucks asked by him and he started to pack. Now the agent approached me.
Agent : Gaadi parcel karne ke liye NOC mangta hai ( you need a NOC ( No objection certificate )
Me: Aisa kuch nahin hai ( I don’t think so )
Agent : Dekho 2 hazar barabar hai , hum kho police kho bhi dena padtha hai ( Look 2000 is the right price , we need to pay the police too)
Me: Agar register karwa raha hun tho hi NOC chahiye (If i am getting the bike registered there then I’ll need the NOC
Agent: Police se puch lo (ask the police )
Big mistake, when the police interfere it means only thing. palm greasing.
Agent to police: Iss ka noc nahin hai , gaadi Patna parcel karna hai ( This bike dose not have a NOC , has to be parcelled to Patna
Police : Noc dikao (Show me the NOC )
Me: Gaadi parcel karne kho Noc nahin chahiye (You need NOC to Parcel the bike)
Police: (taking out some documents typed in marathi ) yeh deko NOC (Look at this NOC)
Me : Gaadi patna mein register krna hai toh NOC lagega ( If I need to get the Bike registered in Patna I need the NOC
Police : Gaadi bahar lejanekoh NOC lagta , Kaise malum gaadi chori ka nahin hai ( You need a NOC to Parcel the bike , How would we know it’s not stolen )
Me: Roz hazaron gaadi highway pe bahar jaati hai , uska kya ( Thousands of vehicle leave the state every day on the highways, what about them ?)
Police 2 : App shaant ho jao ( Calm down )
I walk away. I had given up by now , If I could not do it today I would have to wait till my next weekly off. I approach the agent again and agree to pay the damn 2000 bucks and get the bike parceled.
Looking back, the problem here :
The offices are not clearly marked , we don’t know who to approach. We roam around and ask people where is the office , who should we approach. This is were the agents score , we have no clue on how to go about it and end up lost.
The nexus between the officials and the agents. These people want the system not to change. Everyone is happy here , only we suffer.
Inability of people like me to do anything about it and people who just pay and get the work done. This one of the biggest problem , if the agent has to deal with people who protest day in and day out , I don’t think he would prefer doing this job.
Lack of time. I have seen people who refuse to pay the agents and get the work done on their own. One needs to have a lot of time on your hand for such an approach.
EDIT: I had again gone back to the station to parcel by bike back to Hubli, this time I was short on time, I found another Agent, whose name too is Sachin and happens to be cousin of the other agent. I found him to be good to deal with. TO parcel the bike he needs the a copy of the RC, NOC and insurance , I had only the RC. For a price he will do everything from filling the form , getting the back packed and loading , charges vary , I bargained from 2000 to 1500 for the processing , paid 300 extra for packaging.
Railway transport fee -620
Agent chagred -880 (including the bribe to the police which is around 300 rs)
Packing the bike -300
As promised my bike was in Hubli the very next day.Pune railway parcel agents numbers-
His Number Sachin- 08087469112
Krisha -09881190547
The nightmare at the station happened when at the same time I had to parcel a colleagues bike to Patna in Bihar. Firstly Pune station is very small for such a big city and there is absolutely no Railway police anywhere. When I rode the bike to the station and spent a good time looking for the parcel office.
The 1st guy I asked, hoped onto the bike and said I know people there I’ll come with you. One thing I wanted to avoid here were the touts or agents. I asked the guy to get off the bike, I told him I can do it on my own , just tell me where the parcel office is? He walked away without answering , I rode further into station and ask the rickshaw driver for the information. he says that one can push the bike onto the platform itself . Apparently one can push a bike directly on to the platform meant for the passenger. Actually there is a separate entrance but not many in the station know where it is. Luckily I saw a guy with the red mazdoor union book in his chest pocket and I ask him for confirmation he too tells me to push the bike and asks a porter near by to take me there. The porter lead me to an agent.Whom I wanted to avoid them like a plague , I know they get the work done, But I knew the process and had done the same before. The agent (Sachin) who I start to hate instantly.
Agent : Gaadi parcel karma hai ? ( you want to parcel a bike?)
Me : Han , Patna koh (yes , to Patna)
Agent :2 hazar lagenge ( it will cost you 2000 bucks )
Me: Kya 2 hazar , Nahin kud karlunga (what 2000 , I’ll manage on my own )
Agent : karlo (do it)
I approach the porter who packs the , he says 300 bucks I tried to bargain with him a little and he just walked away. I waited there for some time , not realizing that the the porter doesn't pack unless the agent asks them to. I approach the porter again and agreed to pay the 300 bucks asked by him and he started to pack. Now the agent approached me.
Agent : Gaadi parcel karne ke liye NOC mangta hai ( you need a NOC ( No objection certificate )
Me: Aisa kuch nahin hai ( I don’t think so )
Agent : Dekho 2 hazar barabar hai , hum kho police kho bhi dena padtha hai ( Look 2000 is the right price , we need to pay the police too)
Me: Agar register karwa raha hun tho hi NOC chahiye (If i am getting the bike registered there then I’ll need the NOC
Agent: Police se puch lo (ask the police )
Big mistake, when the police interfere it means only thing. palm greasing.
Agent to police: Iss ka noc nahin hai , gaadi Patna parcel karna hai ( This bike dose not have a NOC , has to be parcelled to Patna
Police : Noc dikao (Show me the NOC )
Me: Gaadi parcel karne kho Noc nahin chahiye (You need NOC to Parcel the bike)
Police: (taking out some documents typed in marathi ) yeh deko NOC (Look at this NOC)
Me : Gaadi patna mein register krna hai toh NOC lagega ( If I need to get the Bike registered in Patna I need the NOC
Police : Gaadi bahar lejanekoh NOC lagta , Kaise malum gaadi chori ka nahin hai ( You need a NOC to Parcel the bike , How would we know it’s not stolen )
Me: Roz hazaron gaadi highway pe bahar jaati hai , uska kya ( Thousands of vehicle leave the state every day on the highways, what about them ?)
Police 2 : App shaant ho jao ( Calm down )
I walk away. I had given up by now , If I could not do it today I would have to wait till my next weekly off. I approach the agent again and agree to pay the damn 2000 bucks and get the bike parceled.
Looking back, the problem here :
The offices are not clearly marked , we don’t know who to approach. We roam around and ask people where is the office , who should we approach. This is were the agents score , we have no clue on how to go about it and end up lost.
The nexus between the officials and the agents. These people want the system not to change. Everyone is happy here , only we suffer.
Inability of people like me to do anything about it and people who just pay and get the work done. This one of the biggest problem , if the agent has to deal with people who protest day in and day out , I don’t think he would prefer doing this job.
Lack of time. I have seen people who refuse to pay the agents and get the work done on their own. One needs to have a lot of time on your hand for such an approach.
EDIT: I had again gone back to the station to parcel by bike back to Hubli, this time I was short on time, I found another Agent, whose name too is Sachin and happens to be cousin of the other agent. I found him to be good to deal with. TO parcel the bike he needs the a copy of the RC, NOC and insurance , I had only the RC. For a price he will do everything from filling the form , getting the back packed and loading , charges vary , I bargained from 2000 to 1500 for the processing , paid 300 extra for packaging.
Railway transport fee -620
Agent chagred -880 (including the bribe to the police which is around 300 rs)
Packing the bike -300
As promised my bike was in Hubli the very next day.Pune railway parcel agents numbers-
His Number Sachin- 08087469112
Krisha -09881190547
Finally are you interested in educating the readers about the Parcel office?
ReplyDeletewhere is it? and what is the process of sending a pracel?
I would write if the babus had an uniform process everywhere in the country. However from what little I know , I will write it ASAP.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Very true Kiran. I had same story wherein I paid 900 Rs for picking up bike lately. And like you I have resisted against corruption so many time but gave up because of paucity of time or not clear understanding of rules.
ReplyDeleteThat is why we have a time to change and to vote AAP in Delhi election.