Palm-greasing as a Livelihood for the Agents Touting around Excise and Taxation Office, Islamabad (A case study of Excise and Taxation, Islamabad)

Abstract

Palm-greasing is to bribe someone to get your work done in an illicit way. Taking and giving bribes is the violation of rule of law which disappoints the people from the concerned departments. Moreover, palm-greasing is practiced in the excise and taxation office in Islamabad where staff members take bribe and do the work of masses. This has affected the credibility of the department terribly. Masses believed that bribe givers are being given more priority than them. Their time is spoiled, and their works are kept in a side on the expense of bribe givers and agents who pay extra to the officers. Officers utilize the same time to do the work of bribe givers at the office. Rest of the people have to wait for hours on queues until the backdoor work are done. Excise and taxation’s staff members not only troubled the public but also put the government of Pakistan’s economy in loss. Because of issuing licenses to the smuggled cars in the country without import taxes. Moreover, masses face several hurdles for registration, paying token tax, and transfer of vehicles from one person to another so in coping with these hurdles, several instructions and guidelines are provided for them. In nutshell, different techniques and tools are used for collection of relevant data in the field. They are participant observation, key informant, interview guide, and field notes.