A student has built a free platform called Bribes.fyi that lets citizens anonymously report being asked for bribes at government offices.

The website was created by Aryan Nishad, a B.Tech student at Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology in Delhi, who used AI-assisted coding to build it.

Users can submit a report in about a minute by filling in basic details of the incident, after which it is published anonymously with identifying details removed.

The platform has gathered 616 reports from 251 cities since going live on July 2, with police departments accounting for the largest share at 337 entries.

Reports are organised by department, city and state, giving the public a searchable view of where bribery complaints are most commonly reported.

The site has gone viral on social media in recent days, with many users praising the simple, anonymous design as a practical tool for surfacing corruption patterns.

Reports on the platform are organised by department, city and state, giving users a public view of where corruption complaints are most frequently reported.

The platform does not verify individual claims before publishing them, relying instead on aggregate, anonymised data to surface patterns rather than pursue individual cases.

The idea follows a broader tradition of crowdsourced anti-corruption reporting tools that have surfaced periodically in India over the years, though Bribes.fyi has stood out for the speed with which it was built and its rapid early adoption.

The platform’s low-friction, minute-long reporting process is widely seen as a key reason for its quick early adoption compared to more formal complaint mechanisms.

Nishad, a B.Tech student at Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology in Delhi, used AI-assisted coding to build the platform from scratch.

The website went live on July 2 and has since gathered 616 reports from 251 cities across the country.

Police departments account for the highest number of reports on the platform so far, with 337 entries alone.

Photo by Tirza van Dijk, Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Amritsar-based crypto trader Rakesh Trehan, popularly known online as ‘Raja D King,’ organised a ‘petrol langar’ in Chandigarh, offering free fuel coupons to hundreds of vehicle owners.

The initiative was held at Sidhu Petrol Pump in Sector 7 and an HP pump in Sector 10, with two-wheeler and three-wheeler owners receiving coupons worth Rs 500, and four-wheeler owners receiving coupons worth Rs 1,000.

Trehan, who has been investing in cryptocurrency markets since 2010, has built a following in the region for a series of unconventional public giveaways framed as community ‘langars,’ a term traditionally associated with free community meals.

In an earlier initiative, Trehan distributed Rs 500 currency notes outside a temple in Chandigarh in what he called a ‘paison ka langar,’ also providing free burgers and cold drinks to those present.

According to reports, Trehan’s next planned giveaway is an ‘iPhone langar,’ under which he intends to distribute iPhones free of cost, though further details have not yet been confirmed.

The petrol langar quickly drew attention on social media, with videos of the event circulating widely and prompting mixed reactions from users, some praising the gesture and others questioning its long-term impact.

Trehan’s giveaways have increasingly been covered by regional media outlets, turning him into a recognisable, if unconventional, figure in the Punjab and Chandigarh region’s social media landscape.

The petrol langar follows a format Trehan has used before, pairing a practical, everyday necessity like fuel with the community-driven framing traditionally associated with free food distribution at religious sites.

Both the petrol langar and the earlier currency-note giveaway were held in Chandigarh, a city Trehan has increasingly used as the stage for his public giveaway events despite being based in Amritsar.

The scale and format of Trehan’s giveaways have made him a subject of curiosity as much as praise on social media, with his background as a cryptocurrency trader since 2010 frequently mentioned in coverage of his events.

Photo by Ganesh Dhamodkar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Mumbai Police’s Friendship Day message on Sunday, August 2, 2026, described the department as ‘that one friend who’s just a call away,’ highlighting four essential emergency helpline numbers.

The post read, ‘That one friend who’s just a call away. Always there for you. Always ready to help,’ shared in English and Marathi with friendship-themed graphics.

The four numbers highlighted were 112, the all-in-one national emergency response helpline; 1930, for cybercrime and financial fraud; 103, the women’s safety helpline; and 1915, the senior citizens’ helpline.

Friendship Day, marked on the first Sunday of August, celebrates the bond of friendship, a theme Mumbai Police used to present its emergency services as a dependable ‘friend’ during a crisis.

The department regularly links civic awareness messaging with festive occasions on social media, a strategy that has often struck a chord with users.

The post received an appreciative response online, with several users praising the department’s creative reminder of important helpline numbers.

Friendship Day traces its origins to a 1958 proposal in Paraguay, and while it is not a public holiday in India, it is widely observed through gift exchanges, gatherings and social media messages among friends.

Mumbai Police’s official social media handles have built a large following over the years, partly due to their consistent use of humour, pop culture references and timely public safety reminders.

Mumbai Police has a long history of using festive occasions and pop-culture references to spread civic awareness messages, a social media approach that has repeatedly gone viral over the years.

The 1930 cybercrime helpline connects callers directly to India’s National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal network, allowing victims of financial fraud to report incidents and potentially freeze fraudulent transactions quickly.

The 112 number consolidates India’s earlier separate emergency lines for police, fire and ambulance services into a single all-in-one helpline, part of a nationwide Emergency Response Support System.

Photo by Nichalp, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0