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This occurs when a public official demands, or expects a bribe for doing an act, which he or she is required to do free of charge. It can also be when a bribe is paid to obtain services, which the official is prohibited from providing. This form of corruption is mainly in form of “speed money” or “grease payment” to help in speeding–up the doing of an act of service. It is commonly referred to as a catalyst or lubricant to smoothen the process but in actual sense its extortion. Most people refer to this kind of corruption when they talk about corruption because it is more visible and many people have participated in it while almost everyone has been a victim to this kind of corruption. Examples of this type of corruption may be in relation to: Processing of application for official documents (e.g. passport, license, police accident report); Providing service (e.g. water supply connection, clearing goods through customs, admission to a school, securing a bank loan etc.); and aiding a wrongdoing (e.g. tax evasion, obtaining illegal water or electricity connection, falsifying or reducing tax assessment on goods, property or sale price on land) or evading the law.
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