The Right to Information Act was enacted in 2005 to provide citizens access to information held by public authorities in order to promote transparency and accountability. It extends to all of India except Jammu and Kashmir. Any citizen can request information from a public authority, to which the public information officer has 30 days to respond. If denied, citizens can file internal and external appeals. The Act also establishes penalties for non-compliance and exempts certain information such as cabinet papers and information provided by foreign governments.
2. Salient Features of the Act
Central legislation; extends to the whole of India except the State
of Jammu and Kashmir.
Grants access to information held by a public authority.
Flows from two Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Constitution
Article 19-Freedom of speech and expression: Information
is necessary to form and express opinions, dissent or support on
any matter. It is therefore a part of Article 19 (1)(a)
Article 21-Right to life and liberty: Information is necessary
for protection of the right to life and liberty. It is therefore a part of
Article 21
Enacted
: 15 June 2005
Enforced
: 12 October 2005
The Freedom of Information Act, 2002 has been repealed with this
act.
3. Objectives
To set out a practical regime of right to information
for citizens
To secure access to information under the control of
public authorities
To promote transparency and accountability in the
working of every public authority
To contain corruption
To increase citizens’ awareness and ability to
exercise their other rights
To equip them to participate meaningfully in the
development process
4. What is information?
any material in any form:
records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions,
advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks,
contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data
material in any electronic form, information relating
to any private body which can be accessed by a public
authority
File notings: are accessible unless they fall under the
exempted category [Section 2 (f), (i) and (j)]
5. Right to information means the
right to:
Inspect works, documents, records
Take
notes, extracts, certified copies
documents and records
Take certified samples of material
Access information in the following forms:
of
printouts, diskettes, floppies, tapes, videocassettes and
other electronic mode
[Section 2 (j)]
6. Preamble
An Act to provide for setting out the practical regime of
right to information for citizens to secure access to
information under the control of public authorities, in
order to promote transparency and accountability in
the working of every public authority, the constitution
of a Central Information Commission and State
Information Commissions and for matters connected
therewith or incidental thereto.
AND WHEREAS democracy requires an informed
citizenry and transparency of information which are
vital to its functioning and also to contain corruption
and to hold Governments and their instrumentalities
accountable to the governed.
7. Who can you demand information
from?
Public Authority:
Any institution/authority/body of self-government
established or constituted:
By or under the Constitution
By any law made by Parliament
By any law made by State Legislature
Body owned/controlled/substantially financed;
NGO
substantially financed by government [Section 2
(h)]
8. Electronic Management of Records
Every public authority shall –
maintain all its records duly catalogued and
indexed in a manner and the form which
facilitates the right to information under this Act
and ensure that all records that are appropriate to
be computerized are, within a reasonable time
and subject to availability of resources,
computerized and connected through a network
all over the country on different systems so that
access to such records is facilitated [ Section 4 (1)]
9. Section 4: the spirit of RTI 2005
“It shall be the endeavour of every public
authority…to provide as much information suo
moto to the public at regular intervals through
various means of communication…so that the
public have minimum resort to the use of this
Act to obtain information”
[Section 4 (1)]
http://petroleum.nic.in/rtiact2005.htm
10. Exemptions
Affects the sovereignty and integrity of India.
Forbidden by any court of law or tribunal.
Breach of privilege of Parliament or the State Legislature
Commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property.
Information held in fiduciary relation.
Information from a foreign government.
Information that endangers life.
Information which impedes the process of investigation or prosecution.
Cabinet papers.
Information which relates to personal matters, the disclosure of which has
no bearing on any public activity or interest.
Information related to agencies mentioned in the Second Schedule of the
Act.
(Public interest in disclosure overrides restricting these information)
(Information dating to event/matter twenty years back shall be provided)
11. PIOs: Who are they and what are
their obligations?
Public Information Officers are designated in every
public authority to provide information to
requisitioners
Their Duties:
Respond to information requests
Render all reasonable assistance including
reducing requisition in written format
If requested information is with another PA, the
PIO will transfer the requisition within 5 days
and inform the requisitioner immediately
[Section 6]
12. Duties of PIO
Respond to a requisition within 30 days:
Provide information on payment of fee
Reject the requisition with reasons
If information concerns life or liberty of requisitioner,
respond within 48 hours
If the PIO fails to do any of the above within 30
days, s/he shall be deemed to have refused the
request
[Section 7]
13. When information is rejected:
The PIO will have to communicate to the
applicant:
The reasons for the rejection
The period within which the appeal should be made
Particulars of the appellate authority
[Section 7 (8)]
14. Can you ask for partial disclosure?
In case of providing partial access to information:
Reasons
Names of PIOs who took the decision
[Section 10 (1)]
If information has been supplied by a third party/ third
party treats the information as confidential, the PIO will:
Give a written notice to the third party within 5 days of
date of request to make a representation
Third party will get 10 days to make a representation
[Section 11]
15. How do you
information?
request
for
Keep the questions short and specific
Details of IOs now available on website u/s 4(1)
(b)
Duty of PA to ensure that the application reaches
the correct PIO
No need to give reasons for making the
requisition
No prescribed application format: some PAs have
their own form but cannot enforce compliance
16. Fee that you have to pay: Central
Rs 10 has to be deposited along with the
application form
Rs 2 has to be paid for every page of
information sought
Actual cost price for any samples or models
For inspection of records, no charge for the
first hour: but a charge of Rs 5 for every 15
minutes thereafter
Actual cost price for paper larger than A3 size
Rs 50 for information provided on a diskette
For information in printed form, the price
fixed for the publication
17. Fee: Delhi
Requisition to be accompanied by Rs 10 payable
by cash/demand draft/banker’s cheque to the
Accounts Officer:
Rs 2 per page created or copied
Actual cost or price for models or samples
For inspection of records, no fee for the first hour; Rs 5
for each subsequent hour or fraction thereof
Rs 50 for information on diskette or floppy
For information in printed form, at price fixed for
publication or Rs 2 per photocopied extract
18. Appeals and Penalties
APPEALS:
Internal
First appeal to the officer immediately senior to Public Information Officer within
30 days of decision.
Appeal to be disposed of within a period of 30 days extendable upto a total of 45 days .
External
Second appeal to CIC/SIC within 90 days of decision of Appellate Authority.
(In both the appeals onus to justify denial of request shall be on the PIO.
Decision of the CIC/SIC is final and binding.)
PENALTIES:
The CIC/SCIC shall impose a penalty of Rs. 250/- per day
Total amount will not exceed Rs 25,000 for–
Not furnishing information in 30 days
Misleading the applicant
Providing wrong information
Not publishing information suo motu
Not computerizing data and uploading on website
CIC/SIC empowered to impose penalty on PIO.
disciplinary action against an erring PIO.
They can also recommend
Delhi NGO Parivartan has done a lot of work in implementing the RTI Act in Delhi. One such way is by taking certified samples of cement used to construct roads to expose the corruption in MCD.
By the Constitution: Comptroller and Auditor General of India, CEC, UPSC
By law made by Parliament: Central Vigilance Commissioner, Chief Information Commissioner etc.
By law made by State Legislature: State Accountability Commission
The provisions for proactive disclosure in the Act are sound. They cover several categories of information and commit public authorities to not just publish information, but also make it accessible. In this section lies the spirit of the RTI Act. In countries with an open information access regimes most information is already out in the public domain.
Parivartan PDS:
All ration shops should paste on the wall the amount of ration received
Records of all ration shops will be open for inspection from 2pm to 5pm on Saturdays
I would like to share with the group, a site where information requested by the info seekers is made available on the website. This will save future info seekers the process of asking for information, if it is already asked by some else in the past. Our board member, Sh. Veeresh Malick's requested information ( serial number 21)is available on the site ( product wise details of under recoveries that would be sustained by the Oil Marketing Companies during 2006-07.) The site is that of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. If you click under subject the entire information provided to the applicant is made available. http://petroleum.nic.in/rtiact2005.htm
If a PIO has not already been appointed, a complaint can be made to the State or Central Information Commission
APIOs are designated in the district level where there is no senior level officer who can attend to the information requested. There have been suggestions that post offices be used as APIOs from where the requisition can be sent to the relevant Department.
The PIO has to provide information in the manner and form in which it is sought unless it diverts the resources of the PA or be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the record in question (be specific, don’t ask for voluminous information) [Section 7 (9)]
Karnataka SCIC ruling: All Competent Authorities should fix separate amounts for information falling under Section 4 (4). Information available in electronic format shall be made available free of cost or by e-mail. In case a hard copy is required, only the cost price of that publication should be required. For photo copy, not more than Re.1 to be charged for A3 and A4 size.