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Right to Information Act India - RTI

NRIs can use RTI from anywhere in the world! . . . Pay Rs. 10 RTI Fee from abroad . . .

RTI stands for Right to Information (Act 2005). It was passed by Parliament on 15 June 2005 and came fully into force on October 13, 2005. The purpose of the RTI act is to provide transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority. It gives Indian citizens, the right to information that is under the control of various public authorities such as, government offices, municipal offices, hospitals and public sector companies. All websites of the government of India have a link to their RTI pages. These pages provide information of the personnel to whom RTI related requests can be sent to.

RTI for Non-Residents

NRIs and persons of Indian origin are also allowed to use India’s ‘Right to Information Act’ and this method is quite helpful, to get answers to problems, people have spent years trying to resolve. Right to Information includes the right to: • Inspect works, documents and records. • Take notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records. • Take certified samples of material. • Obtain information in form of printouts, diskettes, floppies, tapes, video and cassettes or in any other electronic mode. Furthermore, under Section 4(1) (d), an applicant can ask for "reasons" behind an administrative or quasi-judicial decision of a public authority, especially if she/he is an "affected person".

RTI - Public Information Officers

Authorities have appointed public information officers (PIO), both for the central government (CPIO’s) as well as the state governments (SPIO’s) and they are responsible, to give information, to a person who seeks information under the RTI Act.

Assistant Public Information Officer (APIO)

APIO, are officers at the sub-divisional level, to whom a person can give his RTI application or appeal. The APIO will send the applications or appeals to the appropriate PIO. The Department of Posts has appointed APIO, for all the public authorities under the Government of India, in various post offices across India. Chances are you may be able to submit your RTI application, to a post office in most Indian cities.

How to submit RTI application - Mail or On-line submission

RTI applications can be submitted by writing preferably on a white sheet of paper. Your application should include:

1. Your name, address, contact telephone number and your email id. 2. Information about Public Information officer, name, address etc. (Normally shown on the concerned departments websites on their RTI page) 3. Confirmation of payment of fee. In case you have problems locating your PIO/APIO, you can address your RTI application to the PIO C/o Head of Department and send it to the concerned Public Authority with the requisite application fee. The Head of Department will have to forward your application to the concerned PIO. It is recommended, that you not address your RTI application to the PIO by their name. This is a precaution, just in case the person gets transferred or a new PIO is designated in their place.

RTI On-line

The easiest way for NRIs is to use the on-line filling of RTI. Now that payments for using RTI is payable on-line (see below) it is very easy for NRIs regardless of where in the world they reside, to file RTI to get the information they require and speed up paperwork that they are waiting for.

RTI Fee

Generally, fee can be paid in person or by demand draft, Indian postal order etc. Fee for RTI has been kept to a minimum level, so as to be affordable to all. For Central Departments a fee of Rupees 10 is charged for filing RTI application. There are other small charges, for photo copy etc. when requesting information. A charge of Rupees 2 per page is levied for information provided. There is also a charge of Rupees 5 for each hour of inspection after the first hour. All fees are subject to change. The fee structure mentioned above is for the Central Government in India, State Governments may have their own fee structure. Most Government department websites have a link to their RTI page; this page should provide information about required fee and procedure to seek information, from their offices.

Paying RTI fee from abroad

Paying fee for RTI services was difficult in the past for NRIs as they could not get demand draft for Rupees 10 from banks overseas. This problem has now been eliminated. NRIs can now buy a electronic postal order to pay the RTI fee from their home computers by visiting the Indian postal services website https://www.epostoffice.gov.in/ or by visiting http://www.indiapost.gov.in/ NRIs, to use this service will have to first register for this service and can then use their credit or debit cards to pay for the electronic postal order. They can then take a print out of the e-postal order and use that as proof of payment. Registration is required only the first time you use these services and for future transactions, you simply log in with your user name and password created during your registration process.