Urban Indians place highest trust in Defence Forces: Ipsos IndiaBus Trust in Institutions Survey

A new survey by Ipsos titled Trusted in Institutions has placed the Defence Forces (army, navy, air force) highest on trust with 56% citizens rating the institution country’s most trusted.  The other institutions bagging the top ranks were the banking regulatory body, the Reserve Bank of India (52%), followed by the Prime Minister of the Country (51%), placed 2nd and 3rd respectively. 

Defence Forces were trusted much higher as an institution in some cities and cohorts – in tier 1 (79%), the west zone (75%), tier 2 cities (65%) and the north zone (64%). Most of the troops come from these regions and aspire to don the uniform and hold them in highest pride. The PM of the country was most trusted in tier 1 cities (71%), the west zone (69%) and the north zone (67%). Gujarat is the bastion of the prime minister. Likewise, the entire Hindi speaking belt looks up to the PM and his office. 

The RBI has moved up to the 2nd spot, with the PM of the country placed 3rd from the previous wave, in December 2024.    

“The most trusted institutions are defined by the strong tenets of competency, consistency, transparency, integrity, fairness and dedication – in their service to citizens. The defence forces perform their duties selflessly with the motto, service before self, in letter and spirit. The RBI is the banking and economic gatekeeper, keeping the country’s financial interest foremost, keeping a hawk’s eye on the economic health. Likewise, the PM of the Country, is credited with the overall management of the country’s affairs, keeping citizens’ interest in internal decisions and matters; at the same time traverses the global landscape smoothly, forging strong external ties through diplomacy,” stated Parijat Chakraborty, Group Service Line Leader, Public Affairs, corporate reputation, CSR & ESG.              

Citizens rated politicians (33%), community leaders (34%) and political parties (34%) lowest on trust, placing them highest on the distrust list of institutions. 

“These institutions have a trust deficit – while all politicians cannot be painted in the same brush, citizens form their perceptions from stray examples of episodes of corruption or of some community leaders being untrustworthy, perceiving the institutions to embody these traits, which would be unfair,” stated Chakraborty. 

Media (35%) and religious leaders (35%) were tied in their scores and placed low on trust as institutions. Media that disseminates news and should be a trusted source of news falls short in citizens’ perceptions. With fake news making the rounds and the boom of social media, it is becoming more difficult to keep tabs. Even for the religious leaders, they show the spiritual path, but these spiritual leaders too have high trust deficit. 

The Supreme Court of India (49%), the CBI (44%), the Election Commission of India (42%) are among the most trusted institutions. These institutions are of large stature, and their writ prevails in setting rules and regulations and judgment in societal matters. They have the last word is pronouncing fair outcomes.

NGOs and charitable institutions were placed middle of the road with 39% citizens placing them in the trusted list of institutions.

How does the full list look?

Ipsos IndiaBus is a monthly pan India omnibus (which also runs multiple client surveys), that uses a structured questionnaire and is conducted by Ipsos India on diverse topics among 2200+ respondents from SEC A, B and C households, covering adults of both genders from all four zones in the country. The survey is conducted in metros, Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns, providing a more robust and representative view of urban Indians. The respondents were polled face to face and online. We have city-level quota for each demographic segments that ensure the waves are identical and no additional sampling error. The data is weighted by demographics and city-class population to arrive at national average.