How to File an RTI Application — Format, ₹10 Fee, and the 30-Day Clock
Any citizen can file an RTI application to any public authority: write your questions, pay the ₹10 fee, and address it to the department's Public Information Officer — online at rtionline.gov.in for central departments, or by post/state portals for state bodies. The PIO must reply within 30 days (48 hours for life-and-liberty matters). First appeal is free; second appeal goes to the Information Commission.
சட்டப்பூர்வ காலக்கெடுக்கள்
- 30 days — PIO must reply (from receipt (48 hrs life/liberty))
- 5 days — Transfer to right authority (if misaddressed, s.6(3) transfer)
- 30 days — First appeal (from reply/deadline lapse; to senior officer)
- 90 days — Second appeal (to the Information Commission)
படிப்படியாக: என்ன செய்வது
- 1
Frame questions that must be answered
Ask for records and specifics, not opinions.
விவரங்களைப் பார்க்கவும்
RTI (Right to Information Act, 2005) fetches information held in records: file notings, status of your application, copies of documents, reasons recorded, action taken on a complaint, expenditure details. Ask numbered, specific questions ("provide the current status and file noting on application no. X dated Y"). PIOs cannot answer "why is the department inefficient" — they must supply records. Exemptions (s.8 — security, privacy of others, cabinet papers) exist but are narrow and the PIO must justify invoking them.
- 2
File it: online, post, or in person
rtionline.gov.in for the centre; state portals or post for states.
விவரங்களைப் பார்க்கவும்
இதை உங்களுக்காகச் செய்கிறோம் — ₹199Central ministries/departments: rtionline.gov.in — pay the ₹10 fee online and track digitally. State bodies: the state RTI portal where one exists, or registered post to "The Public Information Officer, [department]" with a ₹10 IPO/court-fee stamp/DD per state rules. BPL applicants pay nothing (attach proof). No reasons need be given for seeking information — the Act forbids asking why. Our ₹199 service drafts the application with legally-tight questions.
- 3
The 30-day clock and what replies must contain
Information, or a justified refusal — silence is a deemed refusal.
விவரங்களைப் பார்க்கவும்
The PIO must respond within 30 days (35 via assistant PIO; 48 hours where life or liberty is at stake). Copying charges (₹2/page) may be demanded — the clock pauses till you pay. A refusal must cite the exact exemption; silence beyond 30 days is a deemed refusal and the information must then be provided free. Misaddressed applications must be transferred to the right authority within 5 days (s.6(3)) — so a wrong guess still works.
- 4
Appeals: free, and they bite
First appeal in-house; second to the Information Commission.
விவரங்களைப் பார்க்கவும்
No/bad reply? File the first appeal within 30 days to the department's First Appellate Authority (free; cite the application and the failure). Still stuck: second appeal within 90 days to the Central/State Information Commission — which can order disclosure and impose penalties up to ₹25,000 on the PIO personally (₹250/day of delay). That personal penalty is why RTI appeals get answered. Persistent stonewalling on public-interest matters can also go to the High Court.
செலவுகள் & என்ன எதிர்பார்க்கலாம்
- ₹10
Application fee
Free for BPL card holders
- ₹2/page
Copying charges
A4; inspection of records ₹5/hour after first hour
- Free
First + second appeals
No fee at either appellate stage (most states)
- ₹199
Professionally drafted RTI
WakilBhai; free format below
RTI applies to public authorities — government departments, PSUs, and substantially government-funded bodies. Private companies are outside it directly, but information about them held by regulators is fair game.
இந்தப் பிரச்சினைக்கான இலவச வடிவங்கள்
அடிக்கடி கேட்கப்படும் கேள்விகள்
Can the department ask why I want the information?
No — Section 6(2) expressly bars asking for reasons. You need only your contact details and the fee. Any PIO demanding justification is violating the Act; note it in your first appeal.
What if I sent the RTI to the wrong department?
Section 6(3) obliges the receiving authority to transfer it to the correct one within 5 days and inform you. Your 30-day clock runs from the transferee's receipt. So file your best guess rather than not filing.
What information can be refused?
Section 8 exemptions: national security, trade secrets and commercial confidence, personal information with no public-interest nexus, cabinet papers pending decision, and information barred by courts. Even then, severability applies — the non-exempt part must be given — and the public-interest override can defeat several exemptions.
The PIO simply never replied. What now?
That is a deemed refusal: file the first appeal citing the lapse — information ordered after a deemed refusal comes free of copying charges. If the first appeal also fails, the second appeal puts the PIO at risk of a personal penalty up to ₹25,000, which reliably concentrates minds.
Can RTI help my stuck personal file (pension, certificate, complaint)?
It is the classic use: ask for the current status, the officer holding the file, file notings, and the prescribed timeline for disposal. Files move when inaction becomes a documented record with names attached — many stuck matters resolve within the 30-day RTI window itself.
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இந்தப் பக்கம் பொது தகவலுக்காக மட்டுமே வழக்கமான சட்ட நடைமுறையை விளக்குகிறது. இது சட்ட ஆலோசனை அல்ல. உங்கள் சூழ்நிலைக்குத் தகுதியான வழக்கறிஞரை அணுகவும்.