I knew this could happen so have been diligent about sending an e-sugam form to my vendors so there is no hassle when the goods enter Karnataka. I forgot to do this for my Uzbek ceramic consignment (yes the one I ordered in February finally arrived in December – at least it got here in the same year) being sent by the clearing agent in Delhi. My phone rang at 6:38am and I was told by a Sales Tax Officer that my goods had been ‘abandoned’ at the check post at the airport as the documents were incomplete. I needed to come with the invoice, e-sugam and pay a fine of 3 times the actual VAT. When I said that sounded absurd (I am not very articulate without my first cup of tea, but even in that state I thought 3 times was ‘extravagant’) he made it 1 times. I …