I have no disagreement with your point. Of course a codified system of fees is preferable to one that is completely ad-hoc and based on bribes. But police off

I have no disagreement with your point. Of course a codified system of fees is preferable to one that is completely ad-hoc and based on bribes. But police officers and other minor officials (IRS workers, etc.) are given tremendous discretion about which violations to enforce and which to ignore. In that sense, the US system is quite ad-hoc as well. And since the people who interact most directly with police officers are the poor, abuses of power are less likely to be reported... yet we still hear of them all the time. I view it as a continuum of institutional evolution, with the US perhaps a small notch or two ahead of India in creating institutions that are resistant to corruption. It's definitely not a night and day distinction.