Bribes.fyi goes offline: What happened to India's viral anti-bribe site?
What's the story
Bribes.fyi, a website aimed at exposing corruption, has gone offline. The platform was launched on July 2, 2026 by Aryan Nishad, a B.Tech student at Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology, Delhi. It allowed Indians to anonymously report instances of bribery involving government officials. The site received over five million requests and gained more than 200,000 new users in just two days before going offline earlier today.
Legal support
We're working on legal infrastructure for the site: Nishad
After bribes.fyi went offline, Nishad and his colleague Manish Sahani announced on LinkedIn that they were working on a "robust legal and financial infrastructure" for the website.
They have paused new submissions and support for now.
Nishad has appealed to lawyers or chartered accountants with experience in Indian tech to help them out.
The site clarified that this was a voluntary precautionary step, not in response to any complaint.
Investor insights
Angel investor speaks on potential of tech-enabled digital natives
Angel investor Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, who had funded Nishad with a ₹30,000 grant, said he wasn't sure why the site went offline.
He emphasized that while Nishad launched the website in good faith, they must comply with the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Malpani also expressed his belief in the potential of tech-enabled digital natives to bring about change through platforms like bribes.fyi.
User interaction
How bribes.fyi worked
To report a bribe on bribes.fyi, users had to provide basic information about the incident, including department, city, and amount demanded.
The site saw most complaints from Karnataka (135), followed by Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Users could also specify whether they paid or refused the bribe.
The highest reported bribe came from Jammu and Kashmir with a zero percent refusal rate.
Police-related complaints topped the list with 336 reports.