A crowdsourced platform that allows citizens to anonymously report alleged demands for bribes received more than 5mn (million) or over 5 lakh requests and about 200,000 new users within 48 hours, according to a member of the team behind
Bribes.fyi.
The platform, created by 20-year-old Delhi-based techie Aryan Nishad, was designed to allow citizens to document alleged bribery while accessing government services. It attracted widespread attention on social media after a post about the platform said it had received 2.5mn requests in just 10 hours.
The rapid growth, however, has also led the team to pause new submissions.
In a
LinkedIn post, Manish Sahani, an engineer involved with the project, said he had been helping with product and strategy, while Mr Nishad was the driving force behind its development and release. Mr Sahani said the platform had ‘gone viral faster than we expected’, recording more than 5 million requests and around 200,000 new users in 48 hours.
He said the team was taking a short break to put legal and financial infrastructure in place, while pausing new submissions and support. His post ended with ‘Back soon’.
The current Bribes.fyi website gives a more definitive update. It says the team is taking an ‘indefinite break’ and has ‘no plans to enable the submissions again’. The website describes this as a voluntary decision to sunset the platform and a precautionary step to prevent misuse, rather than a response to any complaint. It says the status page will remain online for some time before the website is eventually shut down and recorded data permanently deleted.
Bribes.fyi was built around a straightforward idea: create a public, structured record of everyday experiences of alleged corruption that otherwise remain individual anecdotes.
Users could anonymously report an alleged bribe demand by providing details such as the government department, location, service involved and amount demanded. The information was then organised by departments, cities and states, allowing users to examine reported patterns.
The platform also had a feature that went beyond simply recording an allegation. Its creator said users could generate a formal complaint letter addressed to the appropriate anti-corruption authority, potentially helping citizens move from documenting an incident to making a formal complaint.
This distinction is significant. A citizen who believes a bribe has been demanded may know that an incident should be reported but may not know which authority to approach or how to frame the complaint. Bribes.fyi attempted to provide a mechanism for both documenting the experience and preparing a complaint.
The large traffic numbers should not be confused with the number of bribery allegations recorded on the platform. Before operations were suspended, the website’s database contained hundreds of reports rather than millions. The platform itself also cautioned that its database represented a self-selected sample of reported experiences and should not be treated as a measure of corruption across India. A submission was an allegation by a user, not a finding established by an investigation or court.
This limitation is particularly important for a platform dealing with allegations against government departments or officials. Anonymity can encourage citizens to report incidents they might otherwise hesitate to disclose, but it can also make independent verification difficult and creates a risk of false or malicious submissions.
The decision to pause the project came as its audience expanded dramatically. Mr Sahani said the scale of the response meant that the project carried “real responsibility”. The team therefore wanted to put more robust legal and financial infrastructure in place.
The website’s subsequent announcement goes further, saying the decision to sunset the platform was taken as a precaution to prevent misuse. It specifically says the decision was not made in response to any complaint. A platform may make it easier for citizens to document experiences and identify patterns, but doing so at scale also requires safeguards covering privacy, verification, moderation, legal liability and the handling of potentially sensitive allegations.
For now, the future of Bribes.fyi remains unclear. While the team’s LinkedIn communication described the suspension as a short break and indicated that the platform could return after strengthening its infrastructure, the website currently says it is taking an indefinite break, does not plan to reopen submissions and intends eventually to shut down and delete its recorded data.
Delhi HC Flags 400 Unused Ventilators, 910 Oxygen Concentrators at Govt Hospitals
Moneylife Digital Team
14 August 2026
The Delhi High Court has expressed serious concern over large quantities of critical medical equipment lying unused across 26 government hospitals in the national capital, including 400 ventilators and 910 oxygen concentrators at Guru...
Supreme Court Stays Rajasthan HC Order Asking Teacher To Pay Cost of Police Probe into ₹20 Lakh Cyber Fraud
Ritwik Choudhury (Bar
and
Bench)
13 August 2026
The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed a Rajasthan High Court direction requiring a government school teacher who lost ₹20 lakh in a cyber fraud to bear the cost of the police investigation.
A Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K...
Only 0.79 Govt Hospital Beds Per 1,000 People, Private Care 8–15 Times Costlier: Parliamentary Panel Flags Affordability Crisis
Moneylife Digital Team
11 August 2026
India's public healthcare system faces a serious capacity and affordability challenge, with government hospitals having only 0.79 beds per 1,000 population, while treatment in private hospitals can cost eight to 15 times more than in...
Delayed Birth, Death Registrations To Face Stricter Scrutiny as Parliament Clears Amendment Bill
Moneylife Digital Team
04 August 2026
Parliament on Tuesday passed the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026, paving the way for stricter norms governing the delayed registration of births and deaths to curb misuse and encourage the timely reporting of...
It would have been good if they instead of closing had done category wise streamlining and give input to the lokayukta and PMO and ACB on where it is rampant which all know for them to take forward duing reviews
We begged him to leave us so he settled for?500. This is how corrupt they are. How can we get rid of corruption.
Same happened when my 14 year old brother wanted a driving license. Had to pay a bribe.
It is something like prostitution. WE are sanctimonious enough to blame the service provider BUT never raise our voice about the service receiver.
As a young boy when I threw a tantrum in the market I was told that I would get a chocolate if I stopped. And then all I got was a toffee.
So I learnt 2 important lessons
1. Tell lies
2 Bribery
And we take cash from candidates and then curse corrupt politicions
About time the Indians take responsibilitiy for theirown actions.