Passport office, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), and law enforcement agencies were the three most corruption-prone sectors in Bangladesh in 2023, said a report by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB).
TIB unveiled its "National Household Survey on Corruption in Service Sectors 2023" at the MIDAS Centre on Tuesday (3 December) revealing that 70.9% of households faced corruption during the year.
According to the report, 77.2% of surveyed households that paid bribes indicated that services were unattainable without such payments, underscoring a troubling institutionalisation of corruption.
The total amount paid in bribes during the survey year amounted to Tk10,902 crore, with an estimated Tk1,46,252 crore paid in bribes between 2009 and April 2024.
TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman emphasised that this survey, conducted annually since 1997, is not based on perceptions but rather on the direct experiences of citizens who encountered harassment while seeking services.
He clarified that the findings are distinct from TIB's Corruption Perception Index reports.
The survey covered 15,515 households and examined various service sectors, including education, healthcare, local government, land administration, agriculture, law enforcement, judicial processes, electricity, banking, BRTA, tax and customs, NGOs, passports, insurance, gas, climate change and disaster aid, and national ID services.
Prominent attendees at the event included Professor Mohammad Shoaib, Professor PK Matiur Rahman, Professor Sikandar H Khan, TIB Director (Research and Policy) Mohammad Badiuzzaman, Director (Outreach and Communication) Mohammad Touhidul Islam, Research Fellow Mohammad Nure Alam and Research Assistant Mohammad Abdul Hannan Sakhidar.
