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Only 16 per cent of businesses surveyed claimed that they always managed to get work done without paying a bribe
75 per cent of the bribes were paid to officials of departments such as legal, metrology, food, drug, health, etc. (Representative image)
Approximately 66 per cent of business firms surveyed across 159 districts admitted to paying bribes in the past 12 months, according to a report released on Sunday by the online platform LocalCircles.
Extent of Bribery Among Businesses
The LocalCircles survey, which received 18,000 responses, found that 54 per cent were forced to pay bribes while 46 per cent paid voluntarily to expedite the process.
Bribery as a Way of Life
“As many businesses would vouch anonymously, bribes remain a way of life when wanting to get government departments to speed up the permit or compliance process, even getting duplicate copy of the authority license or anything to do with property matters. 66 per cent of businesses surveyed paid a bribe in the last 12 months,” the LocalCircles report said.
Businesses Avoiding Bribes
Only 16 per cent of businesses surveyed claimed that they always managed to get work done without paying a bribe and 19 per cent said they “did not have a need” to do so.
Bribery as Extortion
“Of businesses that paid bribes in the last 12 months, 54 per cent were forced to do so, while 46 per cent paid it for timely processing. This kind of bribery amounts to extortion where permits, supplier qualification, files, orders, and payments are routinely held up when dealing with Government agencies,” the report said.
Bribery Despite Digitalisation
According to the LocalCircles report, bribery paid by businesses continues to take place despite computerisation in several places, and behind closed doors away from CCTVs.
Common Reasons for Paying Bribes
Businesses admitted to paying a bribe in the last 12 months to different types of entities for qualifying as a suppliers, securing quotations and orders and collecting payments.
Impact of Government Initiatives
“Though initiatives like the Government eProcurement marketplace are good steps to reduce corruption, there are still openings to engage in corruption for supplier qualification, bid manipulation, completion certificate and payments,” the report said.
Departments Receiving the Most Bribes
Business firms that participated in the survey conducted between May 22 and November 30, 2024, said that 75 per cent of the bribes were paid to officials of departments such as legal, metrology, food, drug, health, etc.
Other Departments Implicated in Bribery
“Many also reported paying bribes to GST officials, pollution department, municipal corporation and power department,” the report said.
Decline in Bribery Transactions
Business entities in the survey shared that the number of bribery transactions and the aggregate value of bribes paid by businesses surveyed reduced in the last 12 months.
Need for Robust Anti-Corruption Programmes
Commenting on the issue of anti-corruption, Deloitte India, Partner, Aakash Sharma said that many organisations tend to believe that maintaining the bare minimum in terms of policies and procedures could result in no regulatory scrutiny and penal actions.
Call for Stronger Compliance Frameworks
“While this approach may have been sufficient in the past, recent upward trends in corruption cases, combined with the changing regulatory landscape require organisations to relook at their compliance framework and establish a robust anti-corruption programme,” Sharma said.
(With PTI inputs)
