India, The society of a cheater Cheating is an act of lying, deception, fraud, trickery, imposture, or imposition. Cheating characteristically is employed to create an unfair advantage, usually in one's own business, and often at the expense of others. Cheating implies the breaking of rules. Cheating is a primordial economic act: getting more for less. This act is very common in Indian society, particularly in large cities. A cheat (British English) or a cheater (American English) will approach to an international traveler at the very arrival moment in the airport of Dehli, Mumbai or Kolkata. Their methods to employ in a fraud are: unreasonable, excessive charge for a taxi at the destination point, intended error of the designated place of a hotel or shop. A cheater will take you the shop which sells an imitation or sells with extra-ordinal price. We recognized the price of an elephant figurine made by marble stone in a shop, which rickshaw driver took us because of receiving a commission from the shop, was about 10 times higher than the government- approved one. However, be careful; there are a lot of imitate shops. That name is almost same, but just a bit different from the right one. A rickshaw driver will say like; 'The road you are going is closed for construction, or for a demonstration parade against a government policy', 'the hotel you are going is closed because of fire', The price we could negotiate with the rickshaw driver is usually for carton unit, but the number of people. However, even both of two passengers and a driver agree the total price, the driver claimed the double fee. A liar continued saying that 'You cannot go in the bus terminal, because it is for Indian only', 'You cannot go to the railway station, unless you have valid ticket', 'This E-ticket of the railway is not good, since no government seal' You should pay $95 for a government stamp. Actually, there was no government stamp or seal, but only a signature of a person, who may be in a group of impositions. This paper shows the E-ticket of Indian Railway from New Dehli to Agra, obtained through a net site. The signature of the right corner, by a man sitting on a desk in front of the Indian Tourist Bureau, represents the government stamp??? The above signs appear to be camouflaged 'Indian Travel Bureaw'. India, The society of insincerity The internet site of airline agency is not the exception. In Agra hotel, we were informed that the air flight of Kingsfisher between Agra and Dehli was canceled due to airline' reason. Since this was an only flight throughout that day, according to the advice of Jaypee Palace Hotel, we had to take a taxi to the area of New Dehli, in lieu of air transportation. However, the travel agency, the Make-My-Trip com., after my request for a refund of an air fee which has been withdrawn by a credit, refused the refund of a total amount of the air fee, because we did not come to the Agra Airport at that time. They suggested to pay a penalty for No-show, and they will tell us how to get the rest of money back. To clear the situation around the day of air flight from Agra and Dehli, I wrote E-Mail to a flight information service of the Kingsfisher Airline, two times. No answer was given at all. I also wrote the Jaypee Place Hotel, Agra to verify the fact that a travel desk of the hotel said to us, there was no Kingsfisher Airline flight on that day. No answer was given at all. They, the airline company and the Agra hotel, just neglected our requests and did not send the answer even with a few lines of a sentence. It is certain that India is the society of insincerity. Now, I still have to question why I have to pay the penalty money? I suppose most people do not go to the airport if the flight was canceled and no other flight on the same day! We sent E-Mail to the agency three times, requesting to send the necessary form for a refund by E-Mail. The agency neglected my request, and suggested to use a telephone to them, and to get the way how to get a refund, after reducing the No-Show penalty money. After all, we made an international call to the Make-My-Trip. However, all lines were composed by automatic telephone guidance and was unable to talk to any person who is in command of a ticket refund. I assume that this travel net site does not want to money back, and just wait until we give up the refund by requesting customers to follow further complicated procedures, also in the case of flight cancellation clearly by airline's side reason. Forty days has passed since the incident. However, no refund even a part of payment has been made to me by the Indian net side. I strongly advise all international travelers not to use the Indian-basis travel agent and/or the net site of ticket office, such as Make-My-Trip com. British movie film, 'Slumdog Millionaire' which was released in 2008, was nominated in 2009 for Academy Awards, well described a slum and the dark underworld of Indian society. A cheating act would be one of their important activities. However, I shall say and hope that there are many good, reliable people living in India. I demand the Indian Government start to take an action to control the telling-a-lie business in the city, railways, tourist spots, Indian-based untrustworthy internet sites. Authorized pre-paid ticket for an auto-rickshaw. Two rubies handling charge has to pay. Fraud could be habitually performing in Agra Fort and other tourist spots. We saw that a man standing for check an admission ticket and tear the half of a ticket and hand it to visitors, did, as if he tore the ticket under the box, not be seen from a visitor. I assume he handed a half ticket to us. However, it was already half dirt. Why an admission ticket changed to a paper which looked used. This new ticket, which may not to hand to a visitor, but is that they circulate a new ticket instantly and sell it at the same ticket office, or sell it by another hawker. The tick of this fraud business can be proven by photographing a ticket and compare the ticket number printed. At the exist of Itimad-Ud-Daulah, they collected a rest of half ticket. This is usually kept by tourists for a record of a visit of that buildings. We cannot neglect of the possibility that a collected ticket to be abused in the similar tourist spot. (L) An admission ticket to the Red Fort (R) Iron bridge over the Yamuna River Agra is one of the worst cities in all of India for touts (commission agents) and rip-offs. It is best to be prepared for this from the minute you get off the train or plane. If you want to go to a hotel that does not give commissions, it can be difficult to get a rickshaw driver to take you there. Some women told me that a few auto-rickshaw drivers absolutely refused to bring them the designated house, which does not provide a commission to a driver, but brought them to a few other places with similar names. Be careful of auto-rickshaw drivers willing to bring you somewhere for Rs 5. If you agree, expect to be taken to a shop or shops, and possibly they may bring you to where you want to go. I have seen this happened. Reference: Spiritual Guides いかさま行為のメッカ、インド インドでは命に危険が及ぶような凶悪犯罪の発生率は比較的低い。しかし、毎年少なくない行方不明の外国人 旅行者もおり、ときには命を奪われることもある。現地の人からは外国からの旅行者は多額の現金を身につけて 歩いていると思われている。一人で歩く女性はほぼ皆無で、この地では非常に危険である。 デリーの国際空港から市内に移動する際は非常に危険との認識が必要である。高額の料金を支払っても宿泊する ホテルでハイヤーの手配をすべきと思う。タージマハルのあるアグラへの特急列車もペテン師の活躍の場となる。 ガイドブックやネットサイト情報を通じ外国人観光客をだます手口は知ってはいたが、「Eチケットを持っている 外国人にはインド政府のスタンプ( government stamp )が必要と迫る。筆者はこれが明らかな、いいがかりだと 拒否したが、列車出発の5分前に、「それでは荷物を持って列車から降りろ」とすごまれ、一日を棒に振る リスクを回避するため、だまされていることを知りながら言い値の半額ほどのスタンプ代金を支払った。 その途端、列車職員を演じていた男は急に笑顔になり握手を求めてきた。こうした行為は日常茶飯事で政府や 鉄道会社が黙認しているとしか思えない。背後にはこれらを取り仕切る地下組織が存在し、当然、賄賂もまかり 通っているのだろう。 2008年に英国で制作され2009年のアカデミー賞を勝ち取った「スラムドッグ・ミリオネア」ではインドで極貧の 生活をしている様と暗黒の世界とが描かれているが、その光景は決して架空のものではなく、非常に現実に近い 情景を映し出したものだと、インドを旅して始めて実感できる。 団体ツアーなどでは決して味わうことの出来ない本当のインドの姿は、個人旅行でのみ始めて取得することが出来る。 自己責任であるからこそ、その安全性について軽視してはならない。社会全体がまだ日本や欧米のような一定の 規律に守られて通常の旅行が出来る状況ではない。数千円の予期しない出費は円滑油として捨てざるを得ないだろう。 むしろゲーム感覚でペテンと向き合って旅を楽しむ余裕が欲しい。しかし、観光客相手のだましが受け入れられない と分かると、そこで牙をむくこともある。十分な注意が必要である。「地球の歩き方・インド」2009〜2010年版、 98頁〜104頁、137頁にも、詳しく記述されている。 オート・リクシャーと呼ばれる三輪タクシーや単にリクシャーと呼ばれる人力三輪車の利用にもリスクが伴う。 大部分のドライバーは誠実だが、乗車前に英語で料金を決めておかねばならない。ニューデリーではそのような ことはなかったが、悪徳ドライバーの多いアグラでは全部で100ルビーと決めておいたにも関わらず、降りるとき 一人100ルビーと2倍の金額を請求された。苦情が相次いだので市当局はニューデリーから着くアグラカント駅前 にチケット売り場を設けた。手数料２ルビーを支払うがここから目的地までは安心して利用できる。ただし、あく までも鉄道駅から乗車した場合に限られる。アグラはタジマハールと共にいかさまのメッカとしても知られている。 アグラでは城塞、寺院などの入場券もまやかしの対象となっている可能性がある。アグラ城の入場券売り場の 少し先にチケットをチェックし、半券を切り取る場所がある。しかし、係員はなんとチケットを箱の中に入れて 切っているではないか。実際は切ったフリをして既に使用された半券を渡していたのだ。その証拠に買ったばかり のチケットが多少汚れたものに変わっていた。買ったばかりの全券はまた同じ切符売り場で売るか、場外でさばく のであろう。あとで気付いたので手遅れであったが、新しい券と渡された券との写真を撮っておけば、刻印番号の 違いでその不正を立証できたと思う。ヤムナー川沿いのイティマッド・ウッダウラーでは、本来は観光客の手に 残るべき半券を回収していた。同じ手口で悪用される可能性が高い。 多くのインド女性が洗濯をしていたヤムナー川の鉄橋を渡るとき、オートリキシャのドライバーは「警官に呼び止め られたので罰金を払わねばならないから100ルビーを後で返すから貸してくれ」と100ルビーをその警官に渡して いた。実際は50ルビーを渡して自分で50ルビーをしまい込んだことも考えられる。この100ルビーはガソリンを 購入したとのことで返金されなかった。いくら警官に渡ったかは不明だが、賄賂であったことは間違いないだろう。 さらに、筆者は一度しか使用しなかった大手カード会社のカード番号が悪用され、全く知らないうちに3回に わたって格安航空券が買われた事実も判明した。幸いカード会社のセキュリティ部門が疑問を抱いたため、 実害が出ずにすんだ。インドではクレジットカードは一流ホテル以外では使用しない方が安全だ。インド・ルビー に換金しすぎたお金はデリー国際空港のチェックアウトロビーで再び日本円に戻すことが出来る。現金の両替料は カード情報流失の危険性を考えれば、そう高くない。ただ、現金を持ち歩く大きなリスクは残る。 India Arrival to India　 India's hotels Dehli temples Dehli Metro Indian railways New Dehli Agra Taj Mahal Cheating in India Security in India Smoking ban in India　 India 2010 BBC News: India's Whats APP fake news war: August 2018 旅行者に群がるペテン師と誠実さに欠ける国、インド 2010年3月執筆　医学博士 宮本順伯 ★This Web site is link-free. The article was written and photographs were taken in March 2010, by Junhaku miyamoto, M.D., PhD.. Copyright(C) 2010 Junhaku Miyamoto, All rights reserved.