Islamabad, Feb 5 : A transparency survey, launched by Ipsos and the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), has found a gap between "perception and reality", showcasing trust deficit between people and government institutions, local media reported on Thursday.

The Index of Transparency and Accountability in Pakistan (iTAP), launched during an event in Islamabad on Tuesday, revealed that government departments usually have a bad image in public in comparison to the experiences reported by those who have met them, Pakistan's leading daily Dawn reported.

The iTAP initiative was launched as an effort by the FPCCI to create an indigenous, recurring benchmark to measure transparency and accountability in Pakistan. The organisers stated that the survey was launched to provide assessment of people's trust in government and institutions based on fieldwork conducted during December 2025-January 2026.

According to the survey, interviews of over 6,000 respondents, both men and women, were conducted in 82 urban and rural districts and more than 195 tehsils. A smaller sample of 300 respondents was taken from within government institutions.

The findings of the survey revealed that 68 per cent of respondents believed bribery was common in government institutions while 27 per cent said they had personally experienced this situation, where they were asked to pay a bribe.

Ipsos Pakistan Managing Director Abdul Sattar Babar was quoted as saying by Dawn that the survey indicated that percep­tions of corruption was higher than reported personal experience. He said, "Corruption levels are still high, but the perception is very strong and the gap is too large," adding that the image of public sector hospitals was impro­ving in Pakistan.

The survey revealed that largest share of respondents - around 53 per cent, had interacted with healthcare institutions and government hospitals over the past 12 months. During the survey, the respondents were asked 36 questions related to awareness and interaction with government offices, views of public regarding malpractices like bribery, nepotism and illicit enrichment, awareness of anti-corruption institutions, views about anti-corruption measures and levels of satisfaction with those steps, Dawn reported.

The survey placed Nadra at the top in overall satisfaction, which it said was largely due to high levels of digitalisation. On question related to nepotism, 56 per cent of respondents said they believed it was common in government offices while 24 per cent said they believed nepotism was impacting merit. According to the survey, perception of malpractices was at over 67 per cent, while reported experience was 15.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, 59 per cent respondents said they believed government officials became rich through illegal means while only 5 per cent said they had personally observed a government official who had illicitly collected wealth, according to the report. The survey revealed that bribery, nepotism and illicit enrichment were the three core forms of corruption related to public institutions.

When asked about the most corrupt institutions during the survey, the respondents mentioned FBRâ??s Customs department, the offices of deputy and assistant commissioners (DC and AC), the police, FBRâ??s Inland Revenue and the courts as the top five.

/IANS