High corruption in Sub-Registrar’s office is not unknown to service seekers and masses. There are widespread allegations the Land Offices across the country are the safe havens of corrupt officials and employees. The Transparency International had also revealed that to register land deeds, people have to pay up to Tk 5 lakh in bribe. Transactions of up to Tk 20 lakh beyond legal means had also been made for recruitment, promotions, and transfers of their staffers and officials, and for obtaining licences for deed writers. Being recruited by a bribe, officials have to earn the money that triggers the cycle of corruption. TIB had methodologically presented the scenario. A Sub-Registrar who indulges in corruption gets 10 to 50 per cent of the bribe money and a portion of the rest of the money is paid to unscrupulous officials at district offices and Directorate of Registration.
It was alleged that sometimes it was a fixed amount and sometimes a percentage of the value of the land. The amount varied depending on the price, type, and location of the land as well as the type of deed and availability of other documents required getting it registered. It observed that the sector has mechanisms for accountability and internal control, but those are not functioning properly. People had to pay between Tk 1,000 and 5 lakh for deed registration and Tk 1,000 and Tk 7,000 for the copy of a deed. Though land documentation process is going to be digitalised, still a vast number of papers are done on manual process. Besides, land survey is another tool of taking money from the people.
Specially, the lack of archive facilities forces the people to be dependent on land officials for related important papers of their lands. And without paying bribe money it is impossible to get done the job.
