Bribe on GPay: Gujarat official arrested after sending QR code for marriage registration

A Gujarat government employee was arrested on Monday for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 1,500 and receiving the amount through a digital payment on Google Pay (GPay), news agency PTI reported, citing an official from the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

Jaydip Chavda, a Class-3 employee posted as a village panchayat secretary or talati-cum-mantri at Parab Vavdi village in Bhesan taluka of Junagadh, had sent his GPay QR code to the complainant instead of meeting in person to collect the cash.
 
"Chavda sent a QR code of his GPay application to the complainant and asked him to deposit Rs 1,500 by scanning the code instead of coming in person with cash," said ACB inspector RR Solanki.

According to the ACB, the bribe was demanded in connection with a marriage registration. "The brother of the complainant had registered his marriage at Parab Vavdi recently. To avail financial assistance under a government scheme, he was required to submit a memorandum regarding his marriage. When he urged Chavda to issue the memorandum, he sought Rs 1,500 as bribe," the release said.

Once the complaint was received, the ACB team from Rajkot laid a trap. "The accused sent a QR code of his GPay mobile app to the complainant's brother and asked him to send the money by scanning it. After getting a complaint, Solanki and his team from Rajkot ACB unit laid a trap at Chavda’s office on Monday and arrested him as soon as he received the bribe money on his payment application," it said.