Faced a bribe demand? Indian student creates website ‘bribe.fyi’ where you can report it anonymously

Indian Student Launches Anonymous Bribe-Reporting Site Called Bribes.fyi

Theindiapostdaily.com – A pair of Indian students has put online a new digital tool designed to let ordinary citizens log every instance in which they were asked to hand over money at a government counter. The site, Bribes.fyi, describes itself as a free, crowdsourced platform where people can record both the bribes they paid and the ones they turned down.

The project was built by Aryan Nishad, a BTech student at Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology. Domain records show the site is registered through NameCheap Inc., and it went live on July 2. Judging from the look and feel of the interface, Nishad appears to have relied on AI-assisted “vibe coding” to assemble the platform.

How the Registry Functions

Every submission a user files is sorted into one of three buckets: individual reports, the government department involved, and the city where the incident took place. The site also lets visitors cross-compare bribe demands across different departments to spot recurring patterns.

Departments currently tracked include Police, RTO, Revenue/Land Records, Passport Office, Municipal Corporation, GST Office, Electricity Board, Income Tax, and the Food and Drug Administration.

What the Numbers Show (as of August 17)

By mid-August the platform had accumulated 646 reported bribe incidents spread across 258 cities. Notably, 37 percent of those who logged a demand said they refused to pay yet still completed their paperwork.

Police Lead the Department Rankings

The Police Department tops the list with 349 logged cases. The RTO follows at 100, Revenue/Land Records at 69, the Passport Office at 43, and Municipal Corporations at 30.

Karnataka Registers the Most State-Level Reports

At the state level, Karnataka leads with 138 reported incidents. Maharashtra trails at 91, Uttar Pradesh at 75, Delhi at 47, Telangana at 37, Haryana at 35, West Bengal at 34, Bihar at 29, and both Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh at 27.

Average Bribe Amounts by State

Jammu & Kashmir posts the highest average reported bribe at ₹19,067, though that figure rests on just six reports. Chhattisgarh follows with an average of ₹13,000 drawn from two reports, and Maharashtra sits third at ₹10,238 across 83 reports.

Refusal Rates

Assam shows a 100 percent refusal rate, but that statistic is based on a single report with no average bribe amount listed. Goa and Uttarakhand each register a 33 percent refusal rate from three reports apiece. Andhra Pradesh’s rate stands at 23 percent across 26 reports, while Rajasthan’s is 18 percent over 17 reports.

Reddit Users React

The launch quickly attracted attention on Reddit, where several commenters praised the concept.

“This is going to be the most consequential platform ever built.” — Reddit user

“Dar ka mahaul bi-directional hona chaiye.” — Reddit user

Another commenter labelled the initiative “excellent” while noting that some people still rationalise bribery as simply how the system operates.

Verification Questions

Not every reaction was positive. On Hacker News, one commenter questioned what “verified” actually means on the site, writing:

“Not sure what ‘verified’ means because the only verification they did was require a checkbox that ‘I confirm this is a genuine experience.'” — Hacker News user

All statistics cited above reflect data displayed on the website as of August 17. Independent verification of those figures was not possible.