Open problems · Governance & corruption
Bribe demands with nowhere to complain
About two in five Indians who used a public service paid a bribe in a year, the highest rate in Asia. Complaining is hard, and complaints rarely lead to prosecution.
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What we know
Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer Asia 2020 found that 39% of Indians who used a public service had paid a bribe in the past year.
The Lokpal, the national anti-corruption ombudsman, registered 276 complaints in 2024-25 up to February 2025, ordered preliminary inquiries in 72 and granted sanction to prosecute in one. Most complaints it receives are reported to be rejected for not being in the prescribed format.
Open questions
- How does someone in your state report a bribe demand today, and what happens next?
- How many trap cases did your state's anti-corruption bureau register last year, and how many ended in conviction?
- Which services in your area most often demand bribes, and could they be moved online without a middleman?
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