71 cases have been registered with the anti-corruption bureau in 2019
Bangalore has seen a rise in reported bribery cases by 30 percent in the last three years, according to the report by anti-corruption bureau, Karnataka. In 2017, a total of 289 cases were reported with the department whereas 378 were reported in 2018.
“I usually pay Rs.200-500 to the traffic police for not wearing a helmet or if I don’t have certain documents. Well, it is cheaper and less time consuming to give it and leave than to pay a proper fine,” said Janhavi, a student. “Sometimes they give receipts and sometimes they don’t,” she added.
Superintendent of Police, Anti-Corruption Bureau says that wherever there is a public interface where in public directly gets involved with the person who does the work, there the chances of getting bribery reporting is more. “Group C officials are the ones that interact with the public the most. If I could put it across department wise, it would be like village accountant, panchayat development officer, bill readers, revenue collector and those kind of persons are the ones against whom we get a maximum number of complaints,” said Sanjeev M.Patil, SP, Anti Corruption Bureau.
There are websites of various organizations available on which citizens can register a complaint if they have been asked to pay the bribe or their work has been done only after paying the bribe. “Just saying that I paid a bribe to so and so will not help because you are not bringing any evidence against the person that you paid a bribe. Better come with some evidence against the person that he asked to the concerned agency so that the agency can take the action,” added Sanjeev Patil.
Taking bribe is a criminal offense under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Indian Penal Code, 1860 which prevents any public servant to take financial aid from citizens. If done so, he is penalized with the punishment of jail term of up to 5 years and fine.
