In India, people often face situations where they are asked to pay bribes for public services that should be provided free. In response to this the organization 5th Pillar has begun to distribute zero rupee notes in the hope that ordinary indians can use them as a means to protest bribe demands by public officials.

In 1997 an expat Indian physics professor was so fed up with the corruption he witnessed on a trip home from the United States, he created the zero rupee note. Now, 13 years later, his idea is gaining currency around the world.

An Indian lobby group has launched a novel anti-corruption tool: the zero-rupee note that can be handed over to any crooked bureaucrat who seeks a little extra payment.

Last year, international corruption watchdog Transparency International said almost four million Indian families had to bribe officials for access to basic services. India also dropped in Transparency’s corruption index from 72nd to 85th in a list of 180 countries. now Indians are fighting corruption using a novel idea – the zero rupee.

Due to the requirement of practical solutions for tackling corruption, 5th Pillar started distributing the worthless Zero Rupee Note. Vijay Anand, from the lobby group 5th Pillar explains that it may sound self-defeating, but Fifth Pillar (an NGO headquartered in Chennai) is printing its own Zero Rupee Notes in an effort to halt bribery and corruption. When asked for a bribe, Indians are being urged to hand over a note worth zero rupees, in a bid to stamp out corruption among officials.

The protest note – literally worth only the paper it is printed on – is being promoted by 5th Pillar, a group that campaigns on behalf of ordinary Indians who are forced to grease the palms of millions of civil servants.