Getting information from a government office: RTI

What has probably happened

You are waiting on a government office. Perhaps your pension, ration card, passport, building plan or refund has been "under process" for months. Perhaps an office took a decision that affects you and never told you why. Perhaps you want to know how money was spent on the road outside your house. Phone calls and visits have got you nowhere.

The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) gives every citizen the right to information held by a public authority (Section 3). A public authority is any body set up under the Constitution or by law, or owned, controlled or substantially funded by the government, including non-government organisations substantially funded by it (Section 2(h)). That covers government ministries and departments, municipal bodies, and bodies the government owns, controls or substantially funds. A few intelligence and security organisations are outside the Act, except for information about corruption and human rights violations (Section 24).

"Information" is wide. It includes records, files, emails, notes on a file, orders, contracts, reports and data held on a computer (Section 2(f)). You can ask for copies, for certified copies, or to inspect the files yourself (Section 2(j)).

Every public authority has a Public Information Officer (PIO), whose job is to receive RTI applications and reply to them, and Assistant Public Information Officers (APIOs) at sub-divisional level to receive applications and forward them (Section 5).

What to do, step by step

Step 1 — decide exactly what you want. RTI works best when you ask for records, not opinions. "Why is my file stuck?" is easy to dodge. "Copies of the file notings on my application number 123 dated 4 March 2026, and the name of the officer with whom it is now pending" is hard to dodge. Write each item as a numbered question.

Step 2 — find the right office. Send the application to the PIO of the office that holds the information. If you send it to the wrong office, it must transfer the application to the right one within five days and tell you (Section 6(3)), but sending it right the first time saves time. Every public authority must publish the names and particulars of its PIOs (Section 4(1)(b)), so check the office's website first.

Step 3 — write the application (day 0). It must be in writing or sent electronically, in English, Hindi or the official language of the area (Section 6(1)). It needs your name, an address for the reply, the information you want and the period it covers. You do not need to give a reason (Section 6(2)). If you cannot write, the PIO must help you put your request in writing. How to lay out the application shows a full sample.

Step 4 — pay the fee and send it. For central government offices the application fee is ₹10. States set their own fees for their own offices, so check the state's RTI rules or the office's website. If you are below the poverty line, you pay no fee (Section 7(5)); attach a copy of your BPL card. Central government offices take applications on the government's RTI Online portal; many states have their own portal. Otherwise send it by speed post or registered post and keep the receipt, or hand it in and get a stamped acknowledgement on your copy.

Step 5 — wait 30 days. The PIO must either give the information or reject the request, with reasons, within 30 days of receiving it. Where the information concerns a person's life or liberty, the limit is 48 hours (Section 7(1)). If you gave the application to an APIO, add five days (Section 5(2)). If the PIO asks for a further fee for copies, the time between that letter and your payment does not count in the 30 days (Section 7(3)).

Step 6 — if no reply, or a bad reply, file a first appeal. No reply in time is treated as a refusal (Section 7(2)). Within 30 days of the reply, or of the day it was due, appeal to the officer senior to the PIO in the same office, called the First Appellate Authority (Section 19(1)). A late appeal can be admitted if you show a sufficient reason. The appeal should be decided within 30 days, or 45 days at most with reasons recorded (Section 19(6)). eMunshi's RTI first appeal sets this out for you.

Step 7 — second appeal. If the first appeal fails or is not decided, a second appeal lies to the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission within 90 days (Section 19(3)). In that appeal, it is for the PIO to prove the refusal was justified (Section 19(5)). The Commission can order the information to be given, order compensation, and impose a penalty on a PIO who refused or delayed without reasonable cause (Sections 19(8) and 20).

What the office can refuse

Section 8 lists the information that need not be given. It includes information that would harm national security or the economic interests of the state, information a court has forbidden to be published, trade secrets, information that would endanger someone's life or safety, information that would impede an investigation, and personal information about someone else that has no link to any public activity or interest. For personal information, the Act adds that what cannot be denied to Parliament or a state legislature cannot be denied to you. Section 9 also allows a refusal where giving access would infringe someone else's copyright. Even for exempt information, the office may disclose it where the public interest outweighs the harm (Section 8(2)), and information about events more than 20 years old must generally be given, with a few exceptions (Section 8(3)). A refusal must give the reason (Section 7(8)).

Timeline and costs

When	What	Who pays
Day 0	Application sent to the PIO	You: the government fee (₹10 for central offices; states set their own). If you want it written for you: ₹299 with eMunshi, all-inclusive — drafted from your answers, a PDF with a Hindi copy, a filing guide with the fee steps, and two revisions
Day 30 (48 hours for life or liberty)	Reply due	Further fees for copies, if the PIO asks; none if the reply is late
Within 30 days after that	First appeal, if needed	₹299 with eMunshi, if you want it written for you
Within 90 days after the first appeal	Second appeal to the Information Commission	The advocate's fee, which they quote first

Documents to keep handy

• A copy of your application, exactly as sent.
• The fee receipt, postal receipt and tracking record, or the online registration number.
• Your BPL card copy, if you claimed exemption.
• Every letter from the PIO: transfer notices, fee demands, the reply.
• Any reference numbers from your original file with the office.

Mistakes that sink people

• Asking "why" instead of asking for records. Ask for the file notings, the orders and the letters; they show the "why".
• Asking twenty things at once. Long, sprawling applications invite partial replies. Keep it to the few records you need.
• Sending it to the minister or the head of department instead of the PIO.
• Not keeping proof of the date you sent it. Every deadline counts from that date.
• Missing the 30 days for the first appeal. Mark the date the reply was due on your calendar the day you send the application.

When you need an advocate

The application and the first appeal are straightforward to do yourself. A second appeal before the Information Commission is a hearing; an independent advocate from our panel can take it on — see RTI second appeal. A 30-minute call to talk it through starts at ₹999.