I Paid a Bribe

Bangalore, India, 2014 · 26 photographs

How Indian citizens fight everyday corruption with the website I Paid a Bribe, in Bangalore. Wave project, BNP Paribas and Festival Circulation(s).

wave project –BNP Pariba/Festival Circulation(s)

Imagine if you had to pay a bribe to see your newborn baby, get your water supply connected or obtain your driving licence. It's an everyday fact of life in India - but campaigners are now fighting back, using people power and the Internet. Since 2011 a website called « I paid a bribe » has been vigorously tackling corruption by harnessing the collective energy of citizens. Citizens can report on the nature, number, pattern, types, location, frequency and values of actual corrupt acts on the web. The reports based on this information, perhaps for the first time in India, provide a snapshot of bribes being paid (or taken), across Indian cities. « I paid a bribe » uses them to argue for improving governance systems and procedures, tightening law enforcement and regulation, thereby reducing the scope for corruption while obtaining services from the government.

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 2 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 3 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 4 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 5 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 6 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 7 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 8 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 9 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 10 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 11 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 12 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 13 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 14 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 15 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 16 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 17 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 18 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 19 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 20 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 21 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 22 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 23 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 24 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 25 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

I Paid a Bribe, Bangalore, India. Photograph 26 of 26 by Thomas Van Den Driessche

Next series

The Heart Temple

Commissioned Works / I Paid a Bribe — Bangalore, India, 2014

01 / 26Index