File RTI application through on-line

Right to Information

Nowadays if you open any news channels and newspapers definitely you will get some news or discussions about corruption and governance. In order to fight against corruption and to establish the good governance, Government of India has introduced several laws. Among these, one of the important act is Right to Information Act, Which is popularly known as RTI act.

This article provides a step by step process to file RTI application through online.

What is RTI act?

RTI Act provides right to citizen of India to access to information from central and state government.

Following are the few examples of Information  which you can ask.

• Reason for delay in issuing driving license.
• Expenditure incurred in Government development project.
• Asking the reason for not providing passbook or any services (PSU Bank) related to bank
  

Like this anyone can ask information from central and state government authority under this act.

Process of filing RTI information through online

In order to get information, you need to write an application to public authority of concern department. Public authority is a person who is responsible to give the information. So in every government organization one personal is being appointed as public authority to provide information.

Now it is possible to file RTI application through online (rtionline.gov.in). Please note that through the mentioned portal, RTI applications/first appeals can be filed by Indian Citizens only for the main ministries/departments of Central Government located at New Delhi. This website is an initiative of Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), Government of India.

Visit the website https://rtionline.gov.in

1. Create your user id and password by clicking “SIGN UP HERE” option (right bottom side of website).
2. Use your user id and password to sign in.
3. After login, at the top right side of the webpage you will get “SUBMIT REQUEST” option. Please click on “SUBMIT REQUEST” to file RTI application.
4. Then you will get list of RTI online portal guidelines. After reading all guidelines, you need to put tick mark on “I HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD THE ABOVE GUIDELINES”  after that, click the submit option.
5. You will then get an online RTI form. You need to mention three important things -
• Select the Department or Ministry from you need information from Select Ministry/Department/Apex body dropdown.
• Provide your personal details like name, address, phone no. etc.
• Mention the information that you want from concerned department.
6. You need to pay Rs 10 as RTI fee. No RTI fee is required to be paid by any citizen who is below poverty line as per RTI Rules, 2012. If a citizen belongs to BPL category s/he will select the option Yes in “ Is the Applicant Below Poverty Line ?” field in the form and s/he has to upload BPL card certificate in Supporting document field. The applicant can click on submit button to submit the RTI application.
7. For non - BPL applicant, payment of Rs 10 can be made through internet banking of SBI & its associate banks and debit/credit cards of Master/Visa. Once the payment is done, the application can be submitted.
8. On submission of the application, a unique registration number would be issued, which may be referred by you for any references in future. You will also get an email and sms alert (if mobile no. provided) on submission of application.

After 30 days, you will get the information from concerned department. You can also know the status of your application through “VIEW STATUS” option in top middle of the website page.

Likewise you can also submit RTI application to first appeal in same website by clicking on “SUBMIT FIRST APPEAL” option available at the top of the website.

Related Resources

1. User manual for citizen interface of RTI Online

Source : Central Information Commission