Bribes, Borders And Middlemen: Why GST Is A Game Changer ndtv.com

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley confirmed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) would roll out on July 1.
Rolling a truck of vegetables into Gujarat, the state once governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requires a bribe of 500 rupees to 2,000 rupees even with your papers in order, according to Rakesh Kaul, vice-president of Caravan Roadways Ltd., which has about 400 trucks plying India's pot-holed roads.

But getting past the state tax collectors into Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, will cost you more: Upwards of 20,000 rupees, Mr Kaul says. The penalty for not paying off the right people is steep fines from factories whose raw materials are stuck at state borders — sometimes for as long as five days.