Truck Drivers Paid Rs 48,000 Crore Bribe To Corrupt Govt Employees In 2019; Guwahati #1 In Bribes, Rs 1257 Avg Bribe/Trip

It has been come to our attention that truck drivers and fleet owners have donated near about Rs 48,000 crore annually as bribes to traffic or highway police, as shown by a recent study.

Truck Drivers Pay Massive Bribes

We know it might not sound very normal but truck drivers have actually paid massive bribes, amounting upto Rs 48,000 crore annually to traffic or highway police.

In a study conducted by SaveLife Foundation, a not-for-profit entity, across 10 major transport and transit hubs, it was found out that at an all-India level, two-thirds or 63% of the drivers admitted to having bribed traffic or highway police personnel on the road.

As the transport hubs included in the study included 10 major cities, it was found out that Guwahati fared the worst, where 97.5% of drivers claimed that they had paid bribes. It was closely followed by Chennai with 89% score and Delhi with 84.4%.

Over 82% respondents admitted to having bribed “officials of one or the other department on the road” during their last trip, revealing the rampant corruption in the above sector.

Even local groups like “puja samitis” extort from truckers before allowing them to cross informal checkposts, with a quarter of the drivers paying them cash.

Even the RTO officials were bribed, even though it was an unwritten norm for truckers, with nearly 44% respondents confirming the same. These truckers’ share was found out to be 94% in Bangalore, followed by 93.4% in Guwahati.

Most Bribes over Expired Licences

The report has exposed that a large share of drivers, about 47% of them admitted to have paid bribes for renewal of their driving licences. Approximately 93% of respondents from Mumbai claimed that they had to pay a bribe for this, followed by Guwahati (83%) and Delhi-NCR (78%).

While on an average a driver paid Rs 1,789 for renewal of licence, in Delhi the bribe amount was the maximum at Rs 2,025.

Even 43% of the fleet owners claimed to have paid bribes (average of Rs 1,360) to the transport department for registration of their vehicles, the report noted.