Bribing is common in India is because every single "institution" comprises of people whose eventual goal is to settleabroad, including at the police/municipality level. I don't think it's a "pay" issue,trying bribing your poor local panwala, I think it's an institution issue. Our institutions were designed by the British specifically to control the population,not to deliver justice or provide help. That, unfortunately has not changed.
Post independence we should have radically dismantled these institutions and created newer ones which we failed to do.