BANGKOK (March 7): More than a quarter of people living in Asia had to pay a bribe while trying to access a public service in the past year, a watchdog said on Tuesday, calling on governments to root out endemic graft in the region.

The report by Berlin-based Transparency International surveyed more than 20,000 people in 16 countries spanning the Asia Pacific region from Pakistan to Australia. From the results they estimated 900 million people were forced to fork over "tea money" at least once in the previous 12 months.

Bribery rates were highest in India and Vietnam, where nearly two thirds of respondents said they had to sweeten the deal to access basic services like public education and healthcare.

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