Comment Pieces

Compulsion to Bribe Can Get Neck-Deep

"I want to argue with them why i should pay the bribe you but i couldn't dare to argue with police because i was single and there were 4 other policemen staring at me."

The myth of an official’s capability to deny or delay services rules the roost in government offices. Based on this assumption, officials compel civilians to bribe them. It is only those citizens who identify certain gestures of such officials who can fight bribe. Their gesture could be as unresponsive as not even looking at you when they are being addressed or not being attentive to the details that you are sharing. Their attempt is to make ‘service’ seekers to understand that there is no other respite but to pay the bribe to service providers. Here is a respondent who felt the same as he was forced to pay up the 'solicited' amount.