You cross the Polem check-post in Goa, then you pay “additional tax”

Canacona: Paying “entry tax” or “additional tax” without any receipt at the Polem check-post on the Karnataka Goa border in Canacona at the southernmost tip of Goa has a whole new meaning. It is the point through which road travelers from Karnataka (and beyond) enter Goa. Tourists and others facing “unnecessary fines” and “harassment” point to an interesting incident.

At the police check post at Polem, tourist and commercial vehicles entering Goa are cleared after checking by the staff deployed there. Local Kankonkars allege that they are then stopped again a few hundred meters away and ‘fine’ imposed for trivial reasons.
According to local people, this sends a wrong signal among the tourists coming to Goa for fun.
“What is the justification for issuing these fines barely 500 meters away from the check post, when you already have staff checking you at the check port?” Kalpesh Gaonkar asked from Canacona.
He argued that instead of deploying additional staff just to collect fines, it would be better to equip the check posts and the officers deployed there to do their job properly.

“Why can’t a vehicle entering Goa be thoroughly checked at the check post, instead of being stopped for a second round of checking at a short distance?” Gaonkar asked.
Locals also questioned the functioning of the transport department, especially at the check post at Polem.
“Why should the vehicle be stopped again after crossing the check post, where it can be properly inspected by officers of the rank of assistant motor vehicle inspectors,” Prasad Kankonkar said.
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He called for an immediate stop to this harassment of people visiting Goa as it sends a wrong signal to tourists visiting Goa as it is a tourist destination.
Said.
Moreover, the fact that police and RTO officials often work together to issue challans shows that it is nothing more than a matter of harassing people to fulfill their sadistic desires rather than enforcing the law.
However, Tikam Singh Verma (IPS), SDPO Canacona, said that challans cannot be issued at the check post as no officer of authorized rank is posted there to do so.

Mentioning that they are short of staff, however, the SDPO assured that an officer authorized to issue challans will soon be deployed at the Polem check post. (See the box on this IPS officer’s clarification and the Herald’s questions thereafter)
Further, he said that the mobile traffic enforcement team keeps moving around at various places and does not remain stationary at any place.
SDPO Tikam Singh said, “This team is also deployed at check posts at various times to ensure that people entering our state follow the laws of the country.”