Moral Dilemmas of Bribery: Between Survival, Fairness, and Integrity
Recently, a news has been doing rounds on social media that highlighted the exit of an importer from India due to their negative experiences with bribery with a govt department concerned with imports. When conversations around corruption take place, bribery is usually presented in stark moral terms: as an act of dishonesty that corrodes institutions, undermines fairness, and erodes trust. And yet, in many real-life contexts, those who engage in giving or receiving bribes do not always experience it as a simple matter of right and wrong. Instead, they find themselves entangled in a series of moral dilemmas—situations where each option feels unsatisfactory, and where the choice between integrity and compromise is complicated by practical pressures, institutional rigidities, and human emotions. Bribery is often rationalised by those involved not as corruption, but as an adjustment. Employees who are asked to work beyond official hours, for instance, may consider the “payment” offered to ...