17% of Indonesian Citizens Pay More When Accessing Public Services: Here's Why

According to a survey by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), in 2024, 17.17% of Indonesian citizens had spent money or goods exceeding the stipulated amount when accessing public services, indicating the existence of corrupt practices such as bribery, extortion, or maladministration.

"This shows that there are still members of the public who lack awareness regarding corrupt acts," wrote the BPS in its 2024 Anti-Corruption Behavior Index report.

Of the group that paid more money, 43.07% did so to expedite the service process.

Then, 42.32% did so as a token of appreciation for the service received, 6.15% to obtain better service, and 2.01% to maintain good relations.

Furthermore, 0.61% did so because of missing required documents, and 5.84% had other reasons.

The BPS also found that the majority, or 43.94%, of citizens who paid more when accessing public services did so on their own initiative.

"This condition shows that awareness of anti-corruption behavior has not yet been internalized within most of the public accessing public services," wrote the BPS.

Another 22.97% paid more because they were asked by officials, 31.37% felt it was commonplace, and 1.72% because they were asked by a third party.

Of note, this survey was conducted on a sample of 11,000 households spread across 186 regencies/cities.