Petty corruption

Ordinary citizens meet this form most often: a police officer waving off a fine for a small sum, a clerk who will only process a form for a fee, a school or hospital worker asking for extra payment. Each amount is small, but together they impose a heavy cost on poor households and small businesses, who pay a larger share of income. The practice also wears down trust in public services. It tends to flourish where salaries are low, rules are unclear and officials have wide discretion with little oversight. Reform therefore focuses on simpler procedures, published fees, digital services that remove face-to-face contact, fair pay and complaint channels. It is set against grand corruption, though the two often coexist in one system. For companies, it appears as facilitation payments and small requests at borders and inspections, which policy usually forbids. Staff who face a clerk's request for 20 need a script and a number to call, which is what such policies supply.

At a border post, a small exporter's shipment is held. An inspector says a missing stamp can be 'sorted out' for 20, with no receipt. The exporter's policy bans this. The staff member refuses, gets the formal fee schedule from the customs office and pays the official charge. The clearing takes three days longer, and the delay is recorded as a cost of doing business without bribes.