'Stop this deep corruption': Mohandas Pai urges K'taka CM Siddaramaiah after viral post on bribe demands from govt depts

Mohandas Pai, former CFO of Infosys, has appealed to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar to stop the harassment of business owners by government officials.

"Sir, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, Pl stop this harassment and deep corruption. We elected you to give us good governance as you promised not this deep corruption,bribing! Yes earlier govts too are responsible but today you are in power. Pl save us from this harassment and deep corruption," Pai wrote on Thursday.

Pai's statement comes in response to a detailed thread by Sagorika, a contributing author, who highlighted the persistent harassment faced by small business owners in Bengaluru, regardless of the government in power. 

Sagorika shared the ordeal of a friend who runs a small sporting goods store and is regularly targeted by officials from multiple departments — Metrology, Labour, GST, and even the police. “Regardless of the government in place, he and other businesses around him are forced to pay lakhs in bribes. Lakhs,” she posted.

She described how Metrology officers inspect inventory for minor label discrepancies, offering a court date or an on-the-spot “fine.” Labour department officials follow with document checks and veiled threats. “Then there is the GST audit,” she wrote, highlighting arbitrary slab distinctions and a relentless hunt for errors.

Even routine trade licenses become tools of extortion. “They need an NOC from everyone about the business… If they can frame anything as a complaint, they do,” she added. She also described how some individuals, known across the city, pose as fixers, sit inside stores until they “find something,” and then demand money. In some cases, local police reportedly seize goods in exchange for bribes under the pretext of future protection.

“This is understood to be normal. This needs to change,” Sagorika stated. “Business happens despite our system, not because of it here.”

While acknowledging past governments' failures, Pai stressed that the current leadership must act. “Yes earlier govts too are responsible but today you are in power,” he wrote, urging immediate reform.