NEW DELHI: A latest report by the social media platform LocalCircles revealed that corruption continues to be a big problem for the enterprise panorama in India, with virtually 66 per cent of companies admitting to resorting to bribery in the final 12 months to get their work carried out. and safe favorable outcomes.
The report famous that 54 per cent of the respondents have been compelled to bribe their manner out of conditions, whereas the remaining 46 per cent did so voluntarily for well timed processing.
“As many businesses would vouch anonymously, bribes remain a way of life when it comes to getting government departments to speed up the permit or compliance process, obtaining duplicate copies of authority licenses, or handling property-related matters,” the report acknowledged.
Only 16 per cent of businesses claimed they’d managed to get their work carried out with out bribing, whereas 19 per cent reported they “did not have a need” to achieve this.
“This kind of bribery amounts to extortion, where permits, supplier qualifications, files, orders, and payments are routinely held up when dealing with government agencies,” the report stated.
According to the report, bribery continues to persist in sure areas regardless of digitization, typically occurring behind closed doorways and past the attain of surveillance cameras.
Businesses admitted to paying bribes over the previous 12 months to varied entities to qualify as suppliers, safe quotations and orders, and facilitate fee collections.
“Though initiatives like the Government eProcurement Marketplace are positive steps to reduce corruption, there are still opportunities for malpractice in areas such as supplier qualification, bid manipulation, completion certificates, and payments,” the report acknowledged.
Survey individuals revealed that 75 per cent of bribes have been paid to officers from departments reminiscent of authorized, metrology, meals, medication, well being, and others.
“Many also reported paying bribes to GST officials, pollution departments, municipal corporations, and power departments.”
However, the respondents additionally reported a decline in each the frequency of bribery transactions and the general worth of bribes paid over the previous 12 months.
Aakash Sharma, a companion at Deloitte India, famous that many organizations mistakenly imagine that merely assembly the fundamental necessities of insurance policies and procedures will shield them from regulatory oversight and doable penalties.
“While this approach may have been sufficient in the past, recent upward trends in corruption cases, combined with the changing regulatory landscape, require organizations to revisit their compliance framework and establish a robust anti-corruption program,” Sharma added.
The survey lined enterprise companies throughout 159 districts, gathering 18,000 responses between May 22 and November 30, 2024.
