An average urban household in India pays around Rs 4,400 annually as bribe, while rural households have to shell out Rs 2,900, a government commissioned study on unaccounted wealth has revealed.
The survey conducted by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) showed that individuals in Lucknow, Patna, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune as well as rural areas paid maximum amount of bribe for general work, admission and to police personnel.
According to a report published in “Times of india”, in the cities, an average of nearly Rs 18,000 was paid for securing jobs and transfers, while payments to traffic police personnel was at around Rs 600 a year.
The survey was conducted between September and December 2012.
A series of surveys showed that black money is generated through bribes and pay-offs to bureaucrats and politicians, which could range from award of contracts to leakages from development schemes, mining, sale of oil products and settlement of non-performing loans by banks.
Pointing out that bribe is rampant in rural areas, especially in schemes meant for the poor, the report has revealed how half the beneficiaries of government schemes including rural job guarantee scheme (MNREGS), public distribution system.
It also highlights the extent of corruption, which ultimately generates black money, so far as public sector investment is concerned. Based on interviews of retired government officials, the report suggested that public sector investment is an easy source of illegal funds for politicians and bureaucrats.
The unaccounted money earned could be 2-10% of the project cost and it could cross 20% due to delays. The report estimated that 5-10% of the additional cost in siphoned off.
