Have you ever paid a bribe?

We spoke to a few Bangaloreans and here's what they said:

Vittal Rao had purchased two 30x50 sites during the '80s in R T Nagar. One day, he was surprised to see that the BBMP had laid a road where he lost 600 square feet. And he hadn't even got a notice.

Vittal Rao said, "In the year 1984, I had written a letter to the then Corporation Commissioner seeking compensation. But I never got it for years. I had to run from pillar to post, bribing every time I visited the corporation office. After a few years, I was fed up and washed my hands off this whole issue. But again, after a few years I made up my mind to get back my compensation for the land I lost as I was badly in need of money at that time. I went to the corporation office to find out the status of my file, but I was surprised to know that the file itself was missing. Again, I had to start the process from the beginning. In the meantime I had to sell one out of two sites for a very low price," he added.

"I took up this issue once again seriously during J H Patel government. I finally I got my compensation during Dharam Singh tenure. By the time I got the compensation, I had already spent half of it around Rs 2.5 lakh as bribe.

Chandra Shekar : "I had to get the house transferred to my name and I really didn't want to waste my time on it. I gave the agent Rs 20,000 and he got the work done for me. I would have lost at least five days if I had personally visited the office."

Chaitanya: "I hardly attended college during my II PUC. I had 3 per cent attendance but I wrote the exams by bribing the college. I paid nearly Rs 1 lakh."

Ashwin Kumar: "Since I got a back surgery done at a private hospital and wasn't being reimbursed, someone suggested I get a certificate from a government hospital. I went to Bowring hospital and paid nearly Rs 30,000.

Source: http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/jan/300109-Bribe-taking-Bangaloreans-Vittal-Rao-Chandra-Shekhar-Chaitanya-Bangalore-news.htm