B'lore costliest City for bribe to avoid parking fine

Anti-graft portal findings assess market price of corruption in 6 Indian cities

Motorists in Bangalore pay the maximum bribe amount among all leading Indian cities to escape being fined for illegal parking, a study by anti-corruption website ipaidabribe.com has revealed.

The findings were part of an innovative analysis, ‘Market Price of Corruption.’

The study was based on inputs from citizens in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad, since the inception of the website to early March (2012).

A sum of Rs 378 is the average bribe paid by a Bangalorean to evade an illegal parking ticket. This figure was arrived at based on the inputs by 96 residents in the City. Bangalore is closely followed by Delhi at Rs 350. The figures for other cities are: Mumbai: Rs 320; Pune: Rs 277; Hyderabad: Rs 250 and Chennai: Rs 214.

However, Delhi is worse than Bangalore in another traffic-related offence, jumping the signal. The average bribe amount in Delhi stands at Rs 333 for this office as compared to Rs 318 in Bangalore.

The study also found that Bangaloreans attempting to get their passport verified by greasing palms can afford to carry a slimmer wallet than their counterparts in other cities. They appear to pay the least bribe to make things move in this direction. Delhiites spend an average of Rs 1,452, while Bangaloreans spend less than one-third of the sum, Rs 430. Hyderabadis pay Rs 836, Mumbaikars Rs 570, Chennaites Rs 508 and Puneites Rs 500.

Here are more interesting statistics: A sum of Rs 1,59,476 is paid in Hyderabad for registration of new property (Bangalore: Rs 69,477); Rs 74,644 in Chennai towards customs clearance (Bangalore: Rs 15,403); Rs 1,70,166 in Chennai for income tax-related offences (Bangalore: Rs 11,816) and Rs 1,900 in Pune to avoid drunken-driving charges (Bangalore: Rs 950).

ipaidabribe.com, an online forum to fight corruption, was launched by Janaagraha in August 2010 with an aim to tackle corruption by harnessing the collective energy of citizens. Since its launch, people from all walks of life have told their stories on the nature, number, pattern, types, location and frequency of actual corrupt acts on the website.