How much bribe are Indians being asked to pay? New website tracks the reports

A new website is giving Indians a way to anonymously report alleged bribery demands, allowing users to record details such as the amount sought, department involved, city and whether they eventually paid.

Called bribes.fyi, the platform describes itself as a crowdsourced bribe registry that keeps submissions anonymous and publicly available. Its database is divided into reports, departments and cities, allowing users to browse and compare reported cases.

Police tops list of reported bribes

The website lists several government departments, including the Police, RTO, Revenue/Land Records, Passport Office, Municipal Corporation, GST Office, Electricity Board, Income Tax, and Food and Drug Administration.

As of August 17, the platform showed 617 reports from 253 cities. The Police accounted for the highest number of reports at 336, followed by the RTO with 89 and Revenue/Land Records with 69. The Passport Office had 43 reports, while Municipal Corporations accounted for 29.

One recent entry involved an alleged Rs 2,000 demand in Pune's Police Department. The person who submitted the report said they were told to take the “tatkal” route to avoid delays.

“Was told to take ‘tatkal’ route which costs 2500 to avoid multiple visits and unnecessary delays,” the report stated.

The website also claims that 37% of people who reported being asked for a bribe refused to pay but still got their work done.

Karnataka records most reports

Among states listed on the platform, Karnataka had the highest number of reported cases at 135, followed by Maharashtra with 83 and Uttar Pradesh with 69.

Delhi recorded 47 reports, while Telangana and Haryana had 36 and 34, respectively. West Bengal had 32 reports, followed by Tamil Nadu with 27. Andhra Pradesh and Bihar each recorded 26 reports.

The average reported bribe amount varied significantly between states. Jammu & Kashmir had the highest average at ₹19,067 based on six reports, followed by Chhattisgarh at ₹13,000 from two reports. Maharashtra's average stood at ₹10,238 across 83 reports.

What the website's data shows

The platform also tracks how often people refused to pay alleged bribes. Assam had a 100% refusal rate, although that figure was based on just one report. Goa and Uttarakhand followed at 33% each, based on three reports apiece.

The figures are based on information displayed on bribes.fyi as of August 17 and have not been independently verified. The website's data therefore reflects user-submitted allegations rather than established cases of corruption.