Mumbaikars prefer bribing to filing complaints: Study

Over 50% do not know that Anti-Corruption Bureau exists

MUMBAI: To secure fuss-free service, more than 85 per cent of Mumbai’s residents would not mind sliding their moral misgivings under the carpet while slipping a bribe under the table. The interesting insight was collected during a survey carried out by management students, who interviewed nearly 1,000 people about their attitudes towards corruption.

The survey revealed that more than 50 per cent of  respondents were not aware of the existence of the Anti-Corruption Bureau. The ACB, its website says, was constituted with the express purpose of ‘eradicating the evil of bribery and corruption’. But the survey found that only 12 per cent of the respondents knew about the website. So the ACB’s online exhortation – Raise your voice and it shall be heard! – reaches a limited audience. The news was delivered on Monday to ACB Director-General JD Virkar.

The authors of the survey, five students of the SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, said their remit covered all strata of Mumbai society. “The literate, illiterate, corporate executives, bankers, government servants, and students were interviewed,” said Suneet Garg, one of the five.

The survey focused on three topics: perception of, and awareness about the ACB; the bureau’s effectiveness; and recommendations to prevent corruption.

On the first count, it was discovered that more than 75 per cent of the respondents had been asked to pay a bribe at some point. And they believed that adding a little sweetener to a deal was a more pleasant option than approaching the ACB.