More than 96 per cent businessmen of the country have to bribe the government agencies concerned to obtain necessary documents before starting any business, a study has revealed.
Among them, importers are the majority-98.6 per cent-who have to pay kickbacks to obtain their import registration certificates.
The study on 'Overcoming Business Challenges Survey' (OBCS) was conducted by the Centre for Enterprise and Society (CES) of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) to identify the strategies businessmen use to overcome obstacles to starting any business in the country.
It is a survey based on interview of 536 chief executive officers (CEOs) and managing directors (MDs) from small, medium and large firms in three sectors-real estate development, information technology (IT) and furniture manufacturing in Dhaka and Chittagong.
Under the study the respondents were asked if they paid bribes to get about 14 documents they needed for starting business.
About 97.2 per cent respondents paid bribes during registration with the Register of Joint Stock Companies and Firms and 96.1 per cent bribed while registering properties with the municipal deed registry offices.
They said 95.7 per cent businessmen paid bribes to obtain trade licences, 95 per cent for tax identification numbers, 93.9 per cent for VAT certificates, 96.4 per cent for construction clearance, 96.4 per cent for environmental clearance from the RAJUK, 97.7 per cent for building permit from the capital development agency, 96.3 per cent for export registration certificates, 95 per cent for telephone connections, 96.7 per cent for electricity, 93.8 per cent for water and sewerage lines and 97.3 per cent for gas connections.Treasurer of Real Estate and Housing Association Bangladesh (REHAB) Sardar Md. Amin told the FE, "It is not surprising that such a high percentage of businessmen pay bribes to obtain documents."
"It has become a part and parcel of opening a business. We even forget to complain about this any more," he said.
Mr. Amin, who owns Sun City Developers Ltd, urged business bodies, members of civil society and media to be vocal about the rising level of corruption.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Chairman M Hafizuddin Khan thinks the level of corruption in the country is the highest in the world.
"It is very surprising that everybody in society accepts this reality," he said adding that if corruption cannot be minimised, the middle-income status of the country would be a far-away dream.
Chief Revenue Officer of Dhaka North City Corporation Momtaz Uddin Ahmed said it was not true at all.
"Nobody ever during my tenure has complained that one had to pay bribe for a trade licence," he said.
The study said one of the reasons why some businessmen might have taken bribing easy was the role that bribery played in getting any service.
"There are plenty of evidences documenting that corruption is exceptionally high in Bangladesh; nonetheless, the pervasiveness of corruption as identified by respondents in the Overcoming Business Challenges Survey is still shocking."
It said the process of how corruption works, as described by study participants, appears to be fairly simple.
"Businesses' representatives show up at the appropriate offices, and rather than interacting directly with a government official, an intermediary assists them in filling out and submitting the paperwork," it said.
"While there is probably considerable variation in the amount of the bribe solicited, the practice appears to be widespread across diverse government agencies, localities, industries, and firm sizes. As such, corruption and bribery clearly offer one strategy -- albeit an undesirable one -- to overcome red tape," the study said.
CES former director Daniel M Sabet headed the research team comprising ULAB assistant professor Ahmed S Ishtiaque, Mehdi Rajeb and research consultant of CES Afsana Tazreen.
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