India among top ten bribe-paying nations: Report
China, Russia always ready to grease palms, says anti-graft body
India is among the top ten bribe paying countries of the world. It ranks 19th out of 28 leading international and regional exporting countries on Transparency International Bribe Payers Index (BPI) 2011.
The Index indicates readiness of companies to bribe public officials abroad in order to get business. The country has become more corrupt in its international business dealings can be understood by the fact that its score has gone up. India’s score this year is 7.5 against 6.8 in 2008, on a scale of 0-10 (0 being always bribe and 10 being never bribe).
China and Russia rank 27th and 28th on the BPI released on Wednesday, indicating that companies of these countries are always ready to pay bribe to public officials abroad.
Dutch businesses are the cleanest in that they are least likely to pay bribe to get business. The Netherlands rank first on the Bribe Payers Index. The countries were selected on the basis of large inflow of Foreign Direct Investment and imports. This year six more countries-Saudi Arabia, UAE, Malaysia, Argentina, Indonesia and Turkey-were included in the survey increasing the number to 28 against the 22 in 2008.
Regular occurrence
“Bribing public officials when doing business abroad is a regular occurrence, according to a survey of 3,000 business executives from developed and developing countries. Companies pay bribe to public officials for a variety of purposes, including to win public tenders, avoid regulation, speed up government processes or influence policy,” says Transparency International in its survey report.
The BPI-2011 also looks business-to-business bribery suggesting that the corruption does not concern only public sector, but concerns private sector as well. “Those companies who are weak in following ethical business practices at home are also likely to bribe abroad,” says the Transparency International.
However, it is comforting to see that Public Works and Construction firms scored lowest on the BPI 2011.
This is a sector where bypassed regulations and poor delivery can have disastrous effects on public safety. The survey was done for 19 sectors in which oil and gas sector was found to be especially prone to corruption.
“Indian businesses routinely indulge in foreign bribery, Government of India has a responsibility to enact the legislation criminalising foreign bribery in conformation to United Nation Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and also by learning from international laws such as FCPA and UK Bribery Act,” said Transparency International India.
