nationwide About 66 percent of business companies in 159 districts of India have admitted that they have paid bribes in the last 12 months. This has been said in the report released on Sunday by online platform LocalCircles. The survey, which received 18,000 responses, found that 54 per cent were forced to pay bribes, while 46 per cent paid voluntarily to speed up the process. “Many companies, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it is common to pay bribes to government departments to expedite the permit or compliance process,” the report said. It is common to pay bribes for duplicate copies of authority licenses or in any property related matter. “66 percent of businesses surveyed have paid a bribe in the last 12 months.”
16% businesses did not pay bribe
Only 16 percent of businesses surveyed claimed they had always managed to get work done without paying bribes and 19 percent said they had “never had to” do so. “Of businesses that paid bribes in the past 12 months, 54 percent were forced to do so, while 46 percent paid for work getting done on time,” the report said. “This type of bribery is tantamount to extortion, where permits, supplier qualifications, files, orders, payments are routinely withheld when dealing with government agencies.”
Bribe is given away from CCTV
According to the report, despite computerization in many places and behind closed doors away from CCTV, bribery continues to be paid by businesses. Businesses have admitted paying bribes to a variety of entities in the past 12 months to qualify as suppliers, secure quotations and orders, and collect payments. This survey was conducted between 22 May and 30 November 2024. Business firms participating in the survey said that 75 percent of bribes were given to officials of departments like legal, metrology, food, medicine, health etc.
(With inputs from PTI/Language)
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