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New Delhi: Complaints about demanding bribe in government offices and services come to the fore every day in the country, but the general public often accepts it as their misfortune or remains silent. To change this ground reality and bring transparency in the administrative system, an Indian student has taken a new step with the help of technology. Aryan Nishad, a B.Tech student of Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology, has created a digital platform named 'Bribes.fyi' with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is a free and crowdsourced website where citizens of the country can lodge complaints about bribes demanded in government offices or view the stories of others.

Most complaints received in police and RTO department

More than 600 incidents of bribery have been registered from 251 cities of the country. Analysis of the data available on the platform shows that the maximum number of 337 complaints are to the police department. After this, RTO is at second place with 88 cases and Revenue and Land Records Department is at third place with 69 complaints.

Dozens of complaints have also surfaced against the passport office and municipal corporations. The data also shows that people refused to pay bribes in about 38 percent of the cases.

Appreciated on social media

There are mixed reactions on social media and online communities regarding this digital initiative. Users on platforms like Reddit have strongly welcomed the move, calling it a bold effort to curb corruption. Users believe that this will create an atmosphere of public shame and fear among officials demanding bribes. However, on the other hand, some people on tech forums like Hacker News have expressed apprehensions about the authenticity of the data and the verification process. On this, the platform says that this data is only to highlight public experiences, and when complaints come from the same office, the system automatically helps in confirming that pattern. The most important thing about the website is that the identity of the complainant is kept completely confidential.

How does 'Bribes.fyi' website work?

The main objective of this website, which went live on July 2, is to publicly expose the pattern of corruption spreading in the country. Anyone can lodge a complaint on 'Bribes.fyi' within just a minute. For this, the user has to fill basic information like city, concerned government department and the amount of bribe demanded. Along with this, the user can also tell whether he had given bribe or had flatly refused to give it. The most special thing about the website is that the identity of the complainant is kept completely confidential, so that anyone can share their views fearlessly. There are mixed reactions on social media and online communities regarding this digital initiative.