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Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) is rated most corrupt among government offices as 63.29 per cent of service-seekers were forced to buy its service, principally related to vehicle licensing and route permitting.
Latest official findings on overall socio-political spectrum, released Thursday, also unveil the grading of other public offices where there has been graft galore over the years.
Nearly one-third of the country's population is forced to grease the palm of civil servants to take public services, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) survey reveals.
Among the venal offices, as reported by the government agency, the law-enforcement agencies came out as the second-biggest bribe-and corruption-prone public agency with a 61.94-percent rating. In lockstep follow passport offices with 57.45 per cent, land-registry offices with 54.92 per cent, judges or magistrates, prosecutors, and others scoring 53.77 per cent, and land record/acquisition/settlement office with 51.40 per cent.
The preliminary findings of the Citizen Perception Survey (CPS) of the BBS, conducted on February 6-23, show that 31.67 per cent of the Bangladeshis have been compelled to pay bribe to a public official to receive a government service over the last one year.
Men were more likely to experience corruption (38.62 per cent) compared to women (22.71 per cent) for getting the services.
Meanwhile, the women were found most vulnerable section of society as their percentage regarding facing discrimination and harassment is higher than their male counterpart.
A total of 19.62-percent women faced discrimination and harassment while that of men was 18.97 per cent, the BBS shows.
Among the characters of women harassment and discrimination, 48.44-percent women are being affected from their family, while 31.30 per cent at transportation/open spaces, 25.97 per cent in the workplaces.
"Despite governance challenges, 84.81 per cent of citizens said they felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhoods after dark," the BBS report says about overall ambiance prevailing in the country that navigates political upheavals.
However, the perception of safety was lower among women (80.67 per cent) compared to men (89.53 per cent). Among urban residents, 83.75 per cent reported slightly lower safety levels than rural residents measuring 85.30 per cent.
Inside their own homes after sundown, 92.54 per cent of citizens felt safe, with 91.82 per cent of women and 93.35 per cent of men having expressed this confidence.
According to the perception survey on the political participation and civic freedoms, some 27.24 per cent of respondents believed they could express opinions about government actions.
The survey shows some 31.86 per cent of men felt free to express views compared to 23.02 per cent of women on the political issues.
Just 21.99 per cent of citizens believed they could influence political decision-making, with male confidence 26.55-percent higher than that of females at 17.81 per cent.
In respect of healthcare, 47.12 per cent of respondents had accessed public-health services at least once in the past year. Among them, 82.72 per cent found services easy accessible, and 89.34 per cent considered the costs affordable.
However, satisfaction levels were moderate, with 65.07 per cent of service-seekers satisfied with the quality of service, while 63.13 per cent with staff behaviour and 63.19 per cent with the time doctors and healthcare workers spent with patients.
The BBS survey on access to education shows 40.93 per cent of citizens reported having at least one child enrolled in public primary or secondary schools. Of these, 96.46 per cent said primary schools were within 30 minutes of home, and 92.66 per cent found education expenses manageable.
For secondary schools, 82.20 per cent reported accessibility, 80.86 per cent said costs were affordable. Citizens rated the quality of education as satisfactory, with 67.93 per cent expressing satisfaction at the primary level and 71.86 per cent at the secondary level.
For other government services, such as ID issuance or civil registration, 78.12 per cent said services were available, and 86.28 per cent found the costs affordable.
However, satisfaction with the efficiency of service delivery was lower, with 62.60 per cent being satisfied with service processes, 56.26 per cent with equal treatment, and only 51.28 per cent with timely service delivery.
The survey has also highlighted issues related to justice and dispute resolution. In the past two years, 16.16 per cent of citizens experienced some form of conflict or dispute. Among them, 83.60 per cent accessed either formal or informal justice mechanisms.
Of those, 41.34 per cent used formal systems such as courts or law enforcement, while 68.96 per cent relied on informal channels such as community leaders or local lawyers.
The government statistical agency conducted the Citizen Perception Survey 2025 across all 64 districts of Bangladesh, covering 84,807 individuals from 45,888 households through 1,920 primary sampling units.
As the chief guest at the survey report-launching ceremony, Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud focused a troubling trend in Bangladesh's public-service landscape: wealthier citizens are more likely to engage in bribery to gain faster or higher-quality services, effectively turning essential public services into a transactional marketplace.
Dr Mahmud said: "Bribery is not just a burden for the poor-it's also a tool used by the well-off to buy priority. Those with money are paying bribes not out of desperation, but to speed up or improve their service experience."
The planning boss of the post-uprising government finds it as a disturbing indicator of inequality within the system. "Public services are meant to be universal and equitable, but wealthier individuals are effectively creating a parallel service stream through corruption."
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