# Anti-bribery portal Bribes.fyi shuts after 2 lakh users in 48 hours 2026-08-21T19:47:07+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Bribes.fyi, a crowd-funded portal for anonymous reports of bribe demands, went offline just days after launch, having amassed over 2 lakh users and 5 million requests. The site, built by 20-year-old Delhi BTech student Aryan Nishad, displayed a neon-red map of India with allegations from 253 cities, targeting police, RTOs, and revenue and passport offices. Of the reports, 37% were marked 'refused', meaning users claimed they did not pay and still got their work done. The site stressed submissions were unverified. The shutdown was voluntary and precautionary, citing traffic, spam, and data security. The team said they had not built infrastructure to safely handle the attention, adding, 'Shutting it down was our decision. It was always meant to send a signal, not point fingers. I think the signal was sent.' Legal experts flagged that users admitting to paying bribes on the site could face criminal liability under Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Technology lawyer Mishi Choudhary noted the law has a policy problem, and platforms must build anonymity and security from the start. Internet Freedom Foundation's Apar Gupta warned the site's active moderation of reports might exceed safe harbour protections under Section 79 of the IT Act. For a relaunch, he recommended no accounts, no IP logs, and stripped metadata. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The Bribes.fyi episode highlights the tension between anti-corruption activism and India's legal framework. Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act criminalises bribe-paying, with a narrow exception for those compelled to pay and report within seven days. A public website falls outside that shield, exposing complainants to prosecution. The Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2014, remains unimplemented, leaving no safe channel for citizens to report petty corruption. The DPDP Act's Rs 250 crore penalty for data fiduciaries adds another risk for platforms collecting names or IPs. The next signal to watch is whether the government or courts clarify intermediary liability for crowd-sourced corruption mapping. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com Straight factual account of the portal's rise and shutdown, with expert quotes on legal risks. This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Apar Gupta, Aryan Nishad, Bribes.fyi, Mishi Choudhary, Prevention of Corruption Act Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/anti-bribery-portal-bribes-fyi-shuts-after-2-lakh-users-in-48-hours/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/anti-bribery-portal-bribes-fyi-shuts-after-2-lakh-users-in-48-hours/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/