How to File an RTI Application: A Step-by-Step Guide

The Right to Information Act, 2005 lets any citizen ask a public authority for information. You write a simple application to the Public Information Officer (PIO), pay a fee of ₹10, and the authority must reply within 30 days, or within 48 hours where the information concerns a person's life or liberty.

RTI is one of the most practical laws an ordinary citizen can use. Students use it to get copies of evaluated answer scripts, farmers to track compensation, and families to follow up on pensions or ration cards. Here is how to use it well.

What information can you ask for?

"Information" under the Act includes records, documents, emails, opinions, advice, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples and data held in electronic form. You can ask to inspect records, take certified copies or get information on CD or other electronic media.

Some information is exempt under Section 8, such as information that would affect national security, information received in confidence from foreign governments, cabinet papers before a decision, and personal information with no relationship to public activity. The PIO must give reasons for refusing.

How do you write an RTI application?

1. Identify the public authority. Address the application to the PIO of the department that holds the information.
2. Keep questions specific. Ask for documents and facts, not opinions or explanations. "Provide a copy of the attendance register of the office for March 2026" works better than "Why are staff absent?".
3. Number your questions. It makes the reply easier to check.
4. Give your contact details. Your name and address are needed. You do not have to give reasons for asking.
5. Pay the fee. The application fee is ₹10, payable by cash, demand draft, postal order or online, depending on the authority. Persons below the poverty line are exempt on producing proof.

Where do you file it?

For central government departments, you can file online on the RTI Online portal run by the Government of India. Many state departments accept applications by post or at the office counter, and some have online portals of their own. If you send by post, use registered post and keep the receipt.

How long does the authority have to reply?

• 30 days from receipt of the application, in normal cases.
• 48 hours where the information concerns the life or liberty of a person.
• 35 days where the application is submitted through an Assistant PIO.
• If the application is transferred to another authority, the time runs from the date that authority receives it.

Additional fees for copies may be charged at the rates notified. If the PIO fails to reply in time, the information must be provided free of charge.

What if you get no reply or an unsatisfactory one?

First appeal. Within 30 days of the reply (or of the date the reply was due), file a first appeal to the First Appellate Authority, an officer senior to the PIO in the same department. There is usually no fee for the appeal.

Second appeal. If the first appeal fails, file a second appeal to the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission within 90 days. The Commission can order disclosure and impose a penalty on a PIO who refused information without reasonable cause.

Tips that make RTI work

• Ask for copies of documents rather than "reasons".
• Split a long request into several focused applications.
• Keep copies of everything: the application, the fee proof, the postal receipt and every reply.
• Be polite and factual in appeals. Point to the exact question that was not answered.

Sources

• RTI Online: Government of India portal for central public authorities.
• Central Information Commission: second appeals and decisions.
• India Code: the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Mugil College of Law publishes its own RTI information under Section 4 of the Act.