Public services plagued by bribes Finds Survey
Staff Reporter :
Public service seekers in Bangladesh faced the highest levels of bribery and corruption at the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) over the past year, with 63.29 percent of respondents reporting that they were compelled to pay bribes to access services, according to the latest Citizen Perception Survey (CPS) conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
The BRTA was followed closely by law enforcement agencies (61.94 per cent), passport offices (57.45 per cent), land registration services (54.92 per cent), judicial and prosecutorial services (53.77 per cent), and land records and acquisition offices (51.40 per cent). In total, the survey found instances of bribery in 21 categories of government service delivery.
Published on Thursday, the nationwide survey revealed that 31.07 percent of individuals who accessed public services in the past year experienced bribery or corruption. The prevalence was significantly higher among men (38.62 per cent) than women (22.71 per cent).
Conducted in February 2025, the survey collected data from 831,807 citizens aged 18 and above across all 64 districts. It used a sample of 1,920 primary units covering 45,868 mouzas or mahallas, representing both rural and urban populations.
Beyond corruption, the survey shed light on social discrimination and harassment. Some 19.31 percent of respondents said they had experienced discrimination in the previous year.
Women (19.62 per cent) were slightly more likely than men (18.97 per cent) to face such treatment, and urban residents (22.01 per cent) reported higher levels of discrimination than their rural counterparts (18.07 per cent).
Socioeconomic status emerged as the most commonly cited reason for discrimination (6.82 per cent), followed by gender (4.47 per cent). The majority of incidents took place within families (48.44 per cent), on public transport or in open spaces (31.30 per cent), and at the workplace (25.97 per cent). However, only 5.35 percent of those affected reported the incidents formally.
The CPS also explored the incidence of disputes, finding that 16.16 percent of the population had encountered conflict in the past two years.
Of these, 83.6 percent accessed some form of dispute resolution-either formal mechanisms such as the courts or police (41.34 per cent) or informal avenues such as community leaders or local legal advisors (68.96 per cent).
Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud, who attended the launch of the CPS as chief guest, said that while the BRTA and law enforcement agencies dominate in terms of bribery, the Ministry of Education is also heavily implicated-particularly in relation to staff transfers.
He cited intelligence sources confirming the widespread use of intermediaries in securing transfers, which he said constitutes a major source of corruption.
Reflecting on the findings, Dr Mahmud noted: “I used to believe everyone was forced to pay bribes. Yet this survey shows 31 percent have experienced bribery. Interestingly, women are asked for bribes less frequently, while wealthier individuals appear to pay more-essentially purchasing expedited access to public services.”
The BBS survey echoes findings from a December 2024 report by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), which also identified the BRTA, passport services, and law enforcement as the most corruption-prone sectors.
According to TIB, between 2009 and April 2024, citizens paid an estimated Tk 1.46 lakh crore in bribes across essential public services, including Tk 10,902.3 crore in 2023 alone. On average, the highest bribes were paid in the judicial sector.
The findings underscore the persistent structural corruption in public institutions, prompting renewed calls for governance reforms, improved transparency, and stronger oversight mechanisms.