2. What is RTI Act 2005?
Central legislation
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
Article 21-Right to life and liberty
Enacted: 15 June 2005 Enforced: 12 October 2005
3. 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)]
4. What is a record?
a) Document, manuscript, file
b) Microfilm, microfiche, fax
c) Reproduction of film or images
embodied in such a film
d) Any other material produced by a
computer or other electronic devise
5. Right to information means the
right to:
Inspect works, documents, records
Take notes, extracts, certified copies of documents
and records
Take certified samples of material
Access information in the following forms:
printouts, diskettes, floppies, tapes,
videocassettes and other electronic mode
[Section 2 (j)]
6. 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)]
7. 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)]
8. 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
9. Exempted Information
Section 8 of the Act deals with information that
cannot be disclosed unless the larger public
interest warrants the same
Information dating to event/matter twenty years
back shall be provided
Public interest in disclosure overrides restricting
that information
10. 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]
11. 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]
12. 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)]
13. 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]
14. Penalty
The CIC/SCIC shall impose a penalty of Rs 250/-
per day
Total amount will not exceed Rs 25,000
Not furnishing information in 30 days
Misleading the applicant
Providing wrong information
Not publishing information suo motu
Not computerizing data and uploading on website
[Section 18]
15. How do you request for
information?
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 Process:
Format
Documents
Procedure in deciding the appeal
Service of notice by the Commission
Personal presence of appellant/complainant
Order of the Commission
19. CCS focus: DTP and ICTs for
RTI
Suggestions for suo motu disclosure of
information to DoPT
Duty to Publish Index: 37 points of compliance
Movement towards suo motu disclosure:
Publish frequently requested information
Publish information that has been disclosed under the
RTI Act
Hinweis der Redaktion
CIC’s decision on file notings:
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.
CCS proposed that the commitment suo motu disclosure be made concrete by means of:Designing a Publication Scheme, Information Assets Register, Availability of publications for inspection, Widely requested information becoming available suo motu, Having a logo for RTI and a RTI link on each Department website. Publication Scheme: A document that lays down the categories of information that a public authority is to proactively disclose. Ideally, this would include a short description pf each category (for easier identification and location of documents), the format (s) in which the information is available, how much it will cost to access and reproduce it and how often the information is to be updated. A publication scheme demonstrates an ongoing commitment to proactive disclosure. It provides a template around which a disclosure regime can function. The nature of PS’s is such that they place a large amount of information in the public sphere and are flexible enough to stretch and cover new information. The information regime remains up-to-date with less official intervention required. A PS can keep a disclosure regime on track without confining it. Publication List: This is a list of documents/publications available from a public authority. Both PS and PL have their own significance and should under no circumstances be considered mutually exclusive. Information Assets Register: This is a document providing details of a department’s unpublished records, what categories of information a department generally handles in addition to a statement of published documents. This will also specify whether the unpublished information is available suo motu, at what charge and in what form.