BRTA tops corruption list among public service offices: BBS

BRTA

Dhaka, Dec 24 - The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has been identified as the most corruption-prone public service office in the country, according to the Citizen Perception Survey (CPS) 2025, released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

The survey found that 63.29 percent of citizens who sought services from BRTA experienced corruption. BRTA was followed by law enforcement agencies (57.96 percent) and passport offices (57.45 percent) on the corruption list.

The report was unveiled on Wednesday at the BBS auditorium in Agargaon, Dhaka.

According to the survey, 31.67 percent of respondents admitted to having paid bribes directly while receiving government services in the past 12 months.

The rate of bribery was significantly higher among men (38.62 percent) compared to women (22.71 percent). An overwhelming 98.48 percent of respondents reported paying bribes in cash.

BBS conducted the nationwide CPS between February 6 and 23, 2025, covering 64 districts. Data were collected through interviews with 84,807 respondents aged 18 and above (39,894 men and 44,913 women) from 45,888 households across 1,920 Primary Sampling Units (PSUs).

The findings show that 63.29 percent of respondents who interacted with BRTA officials admitted to paying bribes to receive services, making it the most corruption-prone government office among those surveyed, while the least bribery was recorded in government and autonomous banks and insurance offices (2.98 percent), public educational institutions (2.94 percent), and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) itself, which stood at 1.99 percent.

Law enforcement agencies ranked second, where 61.94 percent of service recipients said they had to pay bribes. This was followed by the passport office at 57.45 percent and the land registry (cadastre) office at 54.92 percent, highlighting persistent corruption in citizen-facing and documentation-related services.

More than half of the respondents also reported bribery in interactions with judges, magistrates, prosecutors and other legal officials (53.77 percent), and the land record, acquisition and settlement offices (51.40 percent).

At the mid-range, bribery was reported by 44.68 percent of respondents dealing with accounts offices, while customs, excise, and VAT offices recorded 35.37 percent. Local government offices at the union parishad, pourashava, and upazila levels stood at 32.91 percent, followed by district and upazila election offices at 26.04 percent.

Lower levels of bribery were reported in social security and welfare offices (19.20 percent) and public utility services such as electricity, water and gas (18.41 percent). Interactions with elected local government representatives (14.94 percent) and income tax or revenue offices (14.08 percent) showed relatively lower but still notable corruption.

Bribery incidence was lowest in the district and upazila administration (11.33 percent), agricultural offices (9.07 percent), and among public healthcare providers, including doctors and nurses (8.05 percent). Only 7.91 percent reported bribery involving elected Members of Parliament.

The data underscore deep-rooted governance challenges, particularly in transport, law enforcement and land-related services, where citizens’ dependence on officials continues to fuel informal payments despite ongoing reform efforts.

The survey assessed progress on six indicators of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16, based on citizens’ perceptions and experiences related to security, good governance, quality of public services, corruption, access to justice, and discrimination.

Nationally, the average household size was four members, with 81.97 percent male-headed households and 18.03 percent female-headed households.

On security, 84.81 percent of citizens reported feeling safe walking alone in their neighbourhoods after sunset while the sense of safety was lower among women (80.67 percent) compared to men (89.53 percent). The feeling of safety inside one’s home after dark was higher at 92.54 percent.

In terms of governance, only 27.24 percent of citizens believed they could influence government decisions, while this figure dropped to 21.99 percent regarding political decision-making.

Nationally, about 24.62 percent of respondents felt that the country’s political system is inclusive and responsive, with little difference between rural (24.47 percent) and urban (24.91 percent) areas.

Regarding public service delivery over the past year, 47.12 percent of respondents accessed government health services, while 40.93 percent reported that at least one of their children attended a government primary or secondary school.

Besides, 73.77 percent sought other government services such as identity cards or civil registration.

Satisfaction levels varied across services: 72.69 percent for healthcare, 81.56 percent for primary education, 78.18 percent for secondary education, and 66.91 percent for other government services.

The survey also found that 16.16 percent of citizens experienced disputes or conflicts in the past two years.

Among them, 83.60 percent had access to some form of dispute resolution, either formal (such as courts) or informal (such as community leaders). Of these, 41.34 percent used formal institutions, while 68.96 percent relied on informal mechanisms.

On discrimination, 19.31 percent of respondents reported experiencing some form of discrimination.

The main bases were socio-economic status (6.82 percent) and gender (4.47 percent). Incidents occurred most frequently within families (49.72 percent), in public transport or open spaces (34.82 percent), and at workplaces (24.85 percent). Only 5.37 percent of victims reported such incidents to the authorities. - UNB