11.42 cr and counting… Is what B’lore paid in bribes

Country Pays Most Bribes For Land Documents; Rich Haul After Lokayukta Raid
Aparajita Ray | TNN

Bangalore: Citizens across 483 cities paid a whopping Rs 44.77 crore in bribes, to get their land documents, electricity connections, a seat in a preferred college or register their dream home. And all this in just 21 months.
Ipaidabribe, the only forum for citizens to air their grievances when they grease palms, clocked 1 million hits as on May 31, 2012. Needless to say, it is the registration department which is the most corrupt, going by the 19,863 reports filed by citizens from across 483 Indian cities. Be it getting a vehicle registered or jumping a signal, getting a marriage certificate or registering a property, nothing seems to work without under-the-table payment.
Citizens had the highest number of complaints against the registration department, where officials make a killing through bribes. In Bangalore, the department made Rs 6.29 crore, followed by the BBMP (Rs 1.69 crore) where people complained of having to grease palms to get their khatas or land documents. Although the corporation is cash-strapped, officials of BBMP and departments do cream off crores through bribes.
These figures, while being representative of the malaise affecting society, is just the tip of the iceberg. A vast majority of bribe payers would not have registered their grievances online.
In the data analyzed by the Jana Online team – an initiative of Janaagraha which handles the site – a shocking Rs 11.42 crore in bribes is lapped up by officials in 24 government departments in Bangalore. Interestingly, people claim to have even bribed gods, but the “offerings” are a mere Rs 4,200!
The education department also made a cool Rs 42.73 lakh in giving seats and certificates. The passport office is yet another place where many people are harassed to get police verification done or over the renewal of visas. As many as 43 stories have been reported on the web page with grievances of having had to pay bribes, with the department mopping up Rs 61,500.
Not very surprising, but the police department ranks only fourth as the highest bribe taking department in Bangalore, making Rs 26.65 lakh, but has recorded 1,422 complaints, the highest number reports on IPaB.