The multitude of scams in recent times and inconspicuous acts of bribery occuring daily have most Indians believing that graft has been on the rise since the past three years, according to a study conducted by Transparency International.

“74 percent of Indians believed that levels of corruption has increased during the last three years,” the report titled “Global Corruption Barometer 2010” noted.

The report notes that, “54 percent Indians paid a bribe in the past year.” India ranks among the ninth most corrupt country in the world and was clubbed with countries like Afghanistan, Cambodia, Cameroon, Iraq, Liberia, Nigeria, the Palestinian territories, Senegal, Sierre Leone and Uganda.

Political parties were ranked as the most corrupt institution in India followed by the police, said the report. According to the report, “Political parties are followed by Police (4.1), parliament/legislature (4) and civil servants (3.5). Private sector, NGOs and judiciary are all seen to be similarly corrupt (3.1), with the media enjoying a marginally better rating at 3. Military (2.8) and religious bodies (2.9) enjoy better public confidence.”

“Corruption has increased over the last three years, say six out of 10 people around the world, and one in four people report paying bribes in the last year," the Berlin-based non-governmental agency said.

The report also figured out that almost fifty percent of people paid to avoid problems with the authorities and a quarter say it was to speed up processes.

Bribing the police has almost doubled since 2006, and a worrying factor is that more people reported paying bribes to the judiciary than before, the report added.

The latest report is the seventh in succession and spanned across a greater number of countries than before including, for the first time, China, Bangladesh and the Palestinian territories.