Letters from the past

Gulf News looks back over the years at concerns and issues raised by readers in their letters to the newspaper. It's a retrospective that offers an insight into the community, the development of the country and the people. This week's letters are from 1981.

Dazzling photographs
Congratulations to Gulf News on the brilliant photographs the paper published on March 22 [1981] captioned "Spectacular aerobatics display by Red Arrows", depicting fully the radiant and splendid feat in the air. I vividly recall an equally superb photograph on March 4 that portrayed a dazzling display of celestial illumination, when a rainbow appeared in the Dubai sky.
From Mr K.E. Eapen
Dubai

Customs confusion
One of the most dreaded moments for an Indian abroad returning home for a short stay is the reception he gets at the customs counter at airports. Common complaints of the majority of Indians returning home are: The customs officer is not courteous. He is arrogant and treats passengers badly. All customs officers are supposed to have with them a price list of items compiled by the Finance Ministry. But, invariably, they cannot find it and are not ready to accept the price that passengers quote. They insist on levying their own arbitrary duties and will tell passengers to appeal for a refund. More than 50 per cent of all such appeals filed are given a refund, but in fact less than 10 per cent of passengers appeal for a refund as they are on holiday and do not want to spoil it. Customs officers believe that those who leave India do not carry any clothes when leaving. This applies especially to women. Most women will tell you that a customs duty is levied on even old or used saris. Excessive duties and complicated procedures for refunds is the most common complaint of all passengers travelling to India, especially from the Gulf region.
From Mr B.P. Shukla
Dubai

The truth
This refers to Mr C. Desa's letter, ("Honest passengers") on behalf of the Indian customs officers, which is not entirely correct. The rudeness of customs officials appears whenever passengers insist on paying the duty on their purchase prices. Every year more than 100,000 appeals are filed at the airport for the refund/readjustment of excessive duties that were paid by passengers. Comparatively, the number of passengers apprehended for bringing in goods without declaring them is around 1,065 annually. So the majority prefers to declare their goods and pay the duty but insist on using the correct value. The greatest complaint of the passengers is excessive valuation. This can be eliminated if the duty levied is the one on the price lists, which the duty officer has but does not care to refer to. I have for the past year pursued this matter with the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry announced that henceforth Indian nationals may pay customs duty in Indian local currency; the pricelists were revised and more copies were made available so that each officer had a price list with him; and assistant collectors were instructed to expedite appeals and avoid delays.
From Mr B.P. Shukla
Dubai

Honest passengers
This is in response to Mr Shukla's letter ("Customs confusion", Gulf News) complaining about the treatment by airport customs officials at Mumbai's international airport. I would like to speak on their behalf. In an all-out effort to smooth the flow of passengers from the Gulf, Mumbai's airport customs introduced the "Green Light" exit, an honour system that permitted a passenger to pass through freely if he carried no dutiable goods. Spot checks over a short period of time, however, revealed that over 90 per cent of Gulf travellers using this exit evaded the payment of customs duties. Where Gulf travellers are concerned, the use of this exit is now restricted and is solely at the discretion of the Customs. What is termed as "rudeness and arrogance" is nothing more than undisguised disgust expressed by officials, who are constantly lied to by passengers hoping to bluff their way through. What is to be blamed is a system that calls for a duty on all goods exceeding the value of Rs1000 (Dh85). The average Gulf passenger arrives at Mumbai airport loaded to the hilt with everything short of a kitchen sink. If complaining travellers would try honesty in their dealings with officials they would find the results positively gratifying.
From Mr C. Desa
Dubai