Is saying truth a suckers game in our country

Doing business in India is funny business. People will say they will come in 10 minutes, and you can wait till infinity. They will say bus ho gaya , and it will never get done. I wonder whether sticking to the rules is a suckers game. Because, India only seems to be rewarding those who can are either large enough to break the rules, or small enough to creep through them. Had a small business with a friend, where neither he nor me is going to make any money out of the transaction ( so there are no interests involved) - but still people are so busy that they have no time for such transactions. Is it ignoring the other person, or it is selfishly being involved in one's own pursuits.