Bribes.fyi: A Crowdsourced Bribe Registry for India

Bribes.fyi is a public, anonymous registry designed to document corruption across India. By allowing citizens to report bribes without requiring an account, the platform aims to reduce official impunity by creating a permanent, searchable public record of bribery patterns.

Core Functionality and Reporting Process

The platform operates on a three-step process to collect and publicize corruption data:

1. Anonymous Submission: Users can file a report in approximately 60 seconds. The system does not collect names or require accounts, requesting only the department, the amount paid, and a description of the events.
2. Pattern Verification: The platform uses an algorithm to automatically flag "verified patterns" when multiple reports cluster around a specific office or officer.
3. Public Indexing: Verified reports are entered into a public index that is searchable by state, department, amount, and date.

Data Insights and Corruption Mapping

Bribes.fyi provides a transparency map and state-level ledgers to visualize corruption trends. Based on initial data, the following trends have emerged:

• High-Volume Departments: The Police, Regional Transport Office (RTO), Revenue/Land Records, and Municipal Corporations are the most frequently reported departments.
• State-Level Variance: Data shows significant variance in average bribe amounts. For example, Telangana reports an average bribe of ₹1,01,000, while Delhi reports an average of ₹625.
• City-Specific Hotspots: The registry identifies specific cities with high bribe volumes, such as Bhadradri Kothagudem (Telangana) and Thane (Maharashtra), with Municipal Corporations often being the primary source of reports.

Community Feedback and Technical Challenges

Following its launch on Hacker News, the community highlighted several critical challenges and risks associated with "sunlight apps" of this nature:

Data Integrity and Anonymity

Users expressed concern over the balance between preventing malicious fake reports and preserving the anonymity of genuine sources. One user noted:

"Sunlight apps will always have the problem of anonymity. 1) Preventing malicious fake reports by anons. 2) Preserving the source anonymity of real reports."

Infrastructure and Sustainability

Shortly after the project gained visibility, reports emerged that the site had reached its usage limits on Netlify, leading to temporary unavailability. Community members suggested migrating to Cloudflare to take advantage of a more generous free tier.

Legal and Safety Risks

Discussion among users touched upon the potential danger to reporters in high-risk environments, with some jokingly but pointedly suggesting the need for a "Panic Button" to protect users' identities if their devices were compromised.