Individual Corruption

Transparency International Global Corruption Report 2008 reveals that citizens are often exposed to corruption when interacting with public agencies responsible for the provision of water. More than half of the responding households stated that the water supply department is corrupt, and a majority felt that corruption had increased within the water department. Moreover, one out of five respondents has gotten work done through ‘alternative means’ such as bribery or via influence. Another survey conducted by Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2010 also illustrates that a majority of the responding households reported having paid a bribe to obtain utility services and registry and permit services.

Moreover, according to a 2010 news article by Bloomberg Businessweek, in India, people can get a driver’s licence ‘as easily as [getting] a chai [tea]’. The same article also reports that driver licence applicants pay USD 65 in bribes to ‘agents’, who in return, spend USD 1 to bribe licensing officials to ensure that applicants get their driver’s licence without waiting for paperwork, and without having to go through driving tests.

Business Corruption

Companies report that the administrative procedures surrounding the provision of public supplies, such as water and electricity, are generally cumbersome. Companies should prepare themselves for these administrative procedures that are often followed by demands for facilitation payments. This is confirmed by the World Bank & IFC Enterprise Surveys 2006, in which a high number of companies report that they expect to give gifts in return for access to a range of public utilities, licences and permits.

Another site for corrupt practices is the business inspections conducted by government officials. Thus, Global Integrity 2009 reports that, in practice, business inspections by government officials to ensure public health and safety standards are usually carried out in an arbitrary and ad-hoc manner, and that bribes are paid by companies in return for favourable treatment or expedited processing.

Political Corruption

Corruption in infrastructure and construction projects, often involving high-level officials, is considered as a major problem in India. According to Bertelsmann Foundation 2010, licences are frequently awarded to the highest bidder.

In September 2009, a former Delhi municipality engineer was sentenced by a Delhi court to four years' imprisonment for taking a bribe of USD 530 for allowing construction of a building in an industrial area, according to the US Department of State 2009.

In 2009, officials from the Tamil Nadu Directorate for Vigilance and Anti-corruption (DVAC) raided the homes and offices of the vice chancellor of Coimbatore Anna University. According to the US Department of State 2009, the raids stemmed from a petition in the Madras High Court alleging that the vice chancellor amassed wealth far beyond his legitimate sources of income. Charges against the vice chancellor included accepting bribes to grant affiliation between the university and more than 100 private colleges and for awarding university contracts, according to the report.

Several sources, such as Reuters and Time, have in 2010 and 2011 been running a series of articles about the 2G telecom scandal that took place in 2007-2008. The scandal has been dubbed one of India’s biggest corruption scandals in decades. The former Telecommunications Minister, Andimuthu Raja, was arrested in February 2011 on charges of massive graft that may have caused the Indian government a loss of USD 39 billion in revenues. Raja was accused of selling telecom licences to companies, some of which were ineligible, at below-market prices in 2007-2008. Several telecom companies, such as Swan Telecom, allegedly benefited from the government sale by re-selling the licence at a high premium. Several high level officials, including MP Kanimozhi and Dayanidhi Maran, of which the latter served as a telecom minister from 2004-2007, were also implicated in the scandal, as reported in 2011 articles by The Wall Street Journal and BBC News. In November 2011, a trial for India's biggest corruption scandal has begun with the questioning of the first witnesses. According to a November 2011 article by BBC News, the trial is expected to be long and complex.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2012:
- Dealing with construction permits in India requires a company to go through 34 administrative steps, which take an average of 227 days at a cost of over 1631% of income per capita.

- Starting a company requires the entrepreneur to go through 12 procedures, taking 29 days and costing nearly 47% of income per capita.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012:
- Business executives give government administrative requirements (permits, regulations, reporting) in India a score of 3 on a 7-point scale (1 'extremely burdensome' and 7 'not burdensome at all').

KPMG: Survey on Bribery and Corruption 2011:
- 17% of the surveyed business respondents perceive the telecommunications sector to be the most corrupt sector in India.

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2010:
- 61% of households who had contact with registry and permit services in 2009 report to have paid a bribe.

- 47% of households who had contact with the utilities services in 2009 report to having paid a bribe.

- 26% of households who had contact with medical services in 2009 report to have paid a bribe.

Trace International: Business Registry for International Bribery and Extortion – India Report 2009:
- Of the total reported bribe demands at the national level between July 2007 and October 2008, 9% originated from the national office of water.

Transparency International: Bribe Payers Index 2008:
- Business executives give the registry and permit services a score of 3.7 on a 5-point scale (1 being 'not at all corrupt' and 5 'extremely corrupt').

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2006:
- 67% of the surveyed companies report that they expect to give gifts in order to obtain a construction permit.

- 52.5% of the surveyed companies report that they expect to give gifts in order to obtain an operating licence.

- 20% of the surveyed companies report that they expect to give gifts in order to get a phone connection.

- 39.5% of the surveyed companies report that they expect to give gifts to obtain an electrical connection.

- 26.5% of the surveyed companies report that they expect to give gifts in order to arrange a water connection.