West Bengal Anti-Corruption Helpline Numbers: 155334, 155335, 155337 & 155339 Explained

West Bengal has launched four separate toll-free helpline numbers so that people can report corruption directly, without going to a police station and without going through anyone in between.

Each number handles one specific problem. If a government officer is asking you for money, you call one number. If a syndicate is forcing you to buy building materials at inflated prices, you call a different one. If someone has put up an illegal barrier on the road and is collecting money from trucks, that is a third number. Illegal liquor is the fourth.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced the four numbers on 28 July 2026 at a police administration meeting held at Bhavani Bhavan, the West Bengal Police headquarters. Calls go to a centralised control room set up at Nabanna and the Police Headquarters, where trained staff record every complaint in a digital database and route it automatically to the local police station.

This guide explains what each number is for, exactly what to say when you call, what happens to your complaint afterwards, and the one warning the administration has attached to all four.

The Four Numbers

All four are toll-free. You do not pay to call.

Quick Facts

155334: Cut Money and Bribes

This is the number most people will need.

Call 155334 if any official or any individual demands money from you in exchange for something you are entitled to. The announcement specifically covers demands made for:

• A government job. Anyone asking for money to get you appointed, to clear you in a recruitment process, or to move your file.
• Any government service. A certificate, a licence, a registration, a pension, a scheme benefit, a record correction.
• Permission to build a house. Building plan sanction, occupancy, mutation, or any clearance connected to construction.
• Work on a development project. A contract, a tender, a work order, or payment for work already completed.

Two things worth understanding about this number.

First, it is not limited to a particular rank. The announcement made the point plainly: it does not matter how senior the officer is. The number exists precisely so that seniority is not a shield.

Second, cut money is not only a bribe paid upfront. It includes a share demanded out of money that is already yours, such as a percentage taken from a scheme payment, a pension arrear, or a contractor's bill before it is released. If someone is taking a cut from what belongs to you, that is what this number is for.

155335: Syndicate Raj

This is the number people understand least, so it is worth being precise about what it covers.

A syndicate, in this context, is a group that controls the supply of building materials in an area and forces anyone constructing anything to buy through them, at their price. Call 155335 if you face:

• Forced purchase of sand, stone or cement from a particular supplier, at rates above the market price
• Being told you cannot bring materials from outside the locality
• Obstruction of construction work because you refused to buy through a syndicate
• Coercion in the housing and real estate sector, including pressure on builders, contractors and individual homeowners

Who this affects. It is easy to assume this is a builders' problem. It is not. An ordinary family building or extending a house runs into exactly the same coercion, often with less ability to push back than a large developer has. Small contractors, shop owners doing renovations and individual homeowners are among the most affected.

155337: Illegal Tolls and Road Tax

Call 155337 if money is being collected from vehicles on a road without any legal authority.

The announcement specifically describes:

• Bamboo barriers placed across state highways or national highways to stop vehicles for collection
• Booths set up on roads to collect money without authorisation
• Illegal tax collected from lorries and goods vehicles

This number matters most to drivers and transporters, who often pay these amounts simply because arguing costs more time than paying. The complaint can be made by the driver, the vehicle owner, or by anyone who witnesses it happening.

What to note down at the spot if you can do so safely: the exact location including the road name and nearest landmark, the time, the amount demanded, how many people were involved, and whether they were in any uniform. Do not confront anyone to gather this. Note what you can see and call afterwards.

155339: Illegal Liquor

Call 155339 to report the manufacture or sale of illegal country liquor, and liquor dens operating in residential neighbourhoods.

The stated purpose is to break up illegal liquor operations running in localities, and to protect lives from spurious liquor, which has caused deaths in several parts of the state over the years.

The identity of the person giving information is kept confidential. This was stated specifically for this number, and it matters, because reporting a liquor operation in your own neighbourhood carries a level of personal risk that reporting a bribe usually does not.

Which Number Should You Call

Before You Call: What to Have Ready

The control room records the details of the incident, the place and the time in a digital database. The more precisely you can answer, the more usable your complaint becomes. Spend two minutes preparing.

Be ready to state:

• What happened. One or two clear sentences. Money was demanded, work was stopped, a barrier was set up.
• Where. Office name and department, or road name and nearest landmark, or locality and ward. Be as specific as you can.
• When. Date and approximate time. If it has happened repeatedly, say so and give the dates you remember.
• Who. Name and designation of the person if you know them. If you do not, describe the desk, the counter, the seat, or where they were standing.
• How much. The exact amount demanded, and whether you paid it.
• Any reference. Your file number, application number, tender number or receipt number, if the matter involves one.

Keep whatever you already have. Receipts, messages, call records, application acknowledgements. You may not be asked for them on the call itself, but they matter if the complaint is investigated later.

Do not put yourself at risk to gather proof. Do not attempt a recording or a confrontation to strengthen your case. Report what you know and let the system verify it. If you feel physically unsafe at any point, call 112.

What Happens After You Call

A centralised control room has been set up at Nabanna and at the Police Headquarters, staffed by trained personnel. Here is how a complaint moves through it.

1. Your call is recorded. The staff member listens to your account and enters the description of the incident, the place and the time into a digital database.
2. It is routed automatically. From the control room, the digital record goes to the local police station or to senior police officers, depending on the matter.
3. It is verified and acted on. The facts are checked, action is taken, and the progress of the complaint is monitored.

The design point here is the digital database. Because every call is logged with a location and a timestamp before it reaches a police station, the complaint exists as a record independently of the officer who receives it. That is the difference between this system and simply walking into a station and telling someone.

A Serious Warning About False Complaints

The administration attached a clear condition to all four numbers, and it should be read carefully before anyone calls.

If a person gives false information to settle a personal score, to act on enmity, or to falsely implicate someone in a case, strict legal action will be taken against the person making the complaint.

The administration's stated position is that citizens should help the administration with correct information, but that if wrong or motivated information is given, action will be taken against the offender under the prevailing law of the country.

What this means in practice:

• Report what you actually experienced or witnessed. Not what you heard, not what you assume, not what you suspect about someone you dislike.
• Say when you are unsure. If you do not know a name, say you do not know it. Do not fill a gap with a guess. A guessed name in a complaint record can seriously harm an innocent person.
• Do not use these numbers in a dispute. A property disagreement, a family quarrel or a business rivalry is not a corruption complaint, and using the helpline that way is exactly what the warning covers.

The confidentiality offered to genuine informants and the penalty attached to false complaints are two sides of the same design. The first only works if the second is enforced.

Other West Bengal Helplines and When to Use Them

These four numbers are for corruption and illegal collection specifically. For other matters, different channels apply.

Helpline or Anti Corruption Branch?

Both routes exist and they are not the same thing.

The helpline numbers are for fast reporting. You call, the control room logs it, and it is routed for action. There is no paperwork and no visit required.

The Anti Corruption Branch is the state's investigating body for corruption cases involving government servants. It was constituted in 2012 and operates from the 9th floor, A Wing, New Secretariat Buildings, 1 Kiran Sankar Roy Road, Kolkata 700001, with the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department as its administrative department. It handles matters referred to it, and formal written complaints are addressed to the Secretary, P&AR Department, Nabanna, Howrah.

A practical way to use both: call the helpline first, because it is immediate and it creates a dated record. If the matter is substantial and involves a government servant, follow it up in writing so there is a documented complaint on file as well.

Why These Numbers Were Launched

The four helplines came in the context of a broader position the state government has been stating publicly.

Four days before the launch, on 24 July 2026, two Motor Vehicle Inspectors posted at the Rampur check post in Paschim Bardhaman were suspended after a truck driver alleged they had demanded a bribe and detained his vehicle despite his documents being in order. The Anti Corruption Branch began an investigation. The Chief Minister announced the suspension publicly and stated that the government maintains a zero tolerance policy against corruption at any level of administration, department or government.

At the same Bhavani Bhavan meeting where the helplines were announced, the Chief Minister also said that around one lakh vacancies in the State Police and Kolkata Police would be filled, and that long-pending demands of police personnel would be addressed.