Shocking: Indian truckers pay Rs 22,000 cr bribes a year on roads

New Delhi: Corruption on Indian roads by enforcement agencies is an open secret.You may have often seen policemen openly taking bribes from truck drivers and conductors on the roads. A study conducted across a dozen major transport hubs covering over 1,200 truck drivers has revealed that in 60% cases, cops and officials extort money from truckers by stopping them without giving a reason. The study conducted by Centre for Media Studies and MDRA at transport hubs in Ludhiana, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Indore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Vijaywada, Bangalore and Chennai estimates an amount of Rs 22,000 cr being paid as bribes annually to corrupt policemen and officials. While 77% of them felt police were the biggest irritant, 73% said it was harassment by transport department officials. However, drivers and truck operators admitted that they paid bribe for failing to meet norms or to get things done quickly. On roads, truckers often pay bribe for lack of proper and valid documents, overloading, violations including rash driving. The study was conducted by the newspaper Times of India across major transport centres covering more than 1,200 truck drivers. At the time of the study, the driver revealed how mobile phones were used to convey links. Drivers claimed that in 12% cases, authorities challan truckers even when there is no overloading. They said harassment by police and transport department officials were the two major irritants for drivers on roads. While 77% of them felt police were the biggest irritant, 73% said it was harassment by transport department officials. So, as per the estimated during the study, almost 22,000 crore is found to be the total bribe on roads every year. Truck and commercial heavy vehicles were found to be the punching bags for enforcement agencies, says the findings that are based on the surveyors interaction with drivers, fleet operators and law enforcing agencies. The drivers plying on the road opined that most of the time they faced harassment from the police and transport department officials and these two were the major irritants for them on the roads. At the same time, drivers and truck operators confessed that they paid bribe when they fail to meet norms or to get things done quickly. Lack of proper and valid documents, overloading, violations including rash driving are some of the cases where they are force to pay bribe on roads.