Dear readers,

We are delighted to inform you that `I Paid a Bribe’ portal touched the momentous figure of one million visitors on the morning of May 28.

We, at Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, are truly overwhelmed both by the response and the distance you have helped us traverse in a short period of 21 months.  

Our gratitude to each one of you for backing us in our mission to fight corruption through your contributions in the form of reports, responses to reports sent by others, letters and queries to us. Our special thanks to media organisations (local, national and international), who have backed us to the hilt and spread our message far and wide.     

Our portal and all  your contributions assume immense significance at a time when scams involving humongous sums and influential persons are tumbling out of guarded closets every other day. Today, Ipaidabribe.com is the largest repository of bribe reports in the world.

We never imagined this highly acclaimed venture to make such rapid strides when our co-founders, Swati and Ramesh Ramanathan, officially launched it in Bangalore on August 15, 2010.

As of now, (May 31, 2012),  we have 10,02,914 visitors. They have responded from 483 cities and submitted 19,767 reports to us. The total amount of bribe which has exchanged hands is Rs 44,50,90,085.

Our first-ever report came from Belgaum (in Karnataka) where an individual had to pay Rs 5,000 to obtain a khata certificate at a local Sub-Registrar office. Our latest complainant is from Bangalore. He had to pay Rs 20 to obtain his ration card at the Food and Civil Supplies office at Rajaji Nagar.  This is no reflection that the amount of bribe collected has reduced!  It is probably an indication that awareness on the issue has increased so much that people feel guilty even about paying this small amount and feel the need to report it on our platform.

On behalf of Ipaidabribe.com, I urge you to keep our relationship going strong through regular interactions and visits to our portal. Do spread the news to family, friends and colleagues so that many more can join all of us in this war against corruption.

Regards,

Editor,

Ipaidabribe.com