Revenue Offices Most Notorious For Demanding Bribes: Survey

‘93% had to pay bribe for govt service’

Revenue Offices Most Notorious For Demanding Bribes: Survey

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:02.09.2021

Nearly 93% of participants of an online survey said they were forced to pay a bribe either directly or indirectly to access a government service, while 48% said bribery was the biggest problem they faced when accessing such services. This was followed by long delays in service at 28.7%, revealed the survey.

Revenue and registration offices topped among departments where participants were forced to pay a bribe, followed by police and RTO, the survey showed.

The week-long survey involved more than 2,000 people and covered various issues regarding access to government services. More than 81% of participants said they were dissatisfied with the service provided of late. A total of 77.6% blamed the poor service on careless attitude of officials, their intent to seek bribes and no option to act against the officer. However, 83.6% preferred to file complaints over delays or rejection of services with an independent body rather than taking it up with the concerned department.

Arappor Iyakkam convenor Jayaram Venkatesan, whose anti-graft NGO conducted the survey, said 22% of participants were from Chennai.

At a press meet in the city on Wednesday, he told reporters that implementing Right to Service would ensure that services are provided within a stipulated time in a simple, easy and transparent manner and holding accountable the government officials dealing with the respective services. The NGO also released the ‘Tamil Nadu Right to Service Model Draft Bill, 2021’ and urged the state government to take action.

Pointing out that demanding bribe for services results in inordinate delay, he said, “If an application is rejected, it should clearly mention the reason for disposing of the petition such as what were the documents missing with the application.”

Moreover, the state government must constitute an independent body, Tamil Nadu Right to Service Commission, on the lines of the Tamil Nadu Information Commission to look into appeals on rejection of service or lack of response to applications for services.

The chief minister, leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of the Madras high court must be part of the panel to select the body’s chief commissioner, he added.

As per the NGO’s draft model, an applicant can file an appeal against the rejection of service or refusal to receive application or refusal to provide acknowledgement receipt. The appeal can be filed to the first appellate authority within 30 days. The appellant can track the status of the first appeal through the same online portal as that of the application using the same unique acknowledgement receipt number.

An appeal must be disposed of by the first appellate authority within 15 days of its receipt. The first appellate authority must provide a written communication of the order to the applicant and designated officer via post and the online portal.

The designated officer must provide the service within five working days of receipt of the order of first appellate authority, the draft said.

About 77% of participants blamed poor service on careless attitude of officials, their intent to seek bribes and no option to act against the official concerned