RTI Appeal - Procedure to Appeal RTI Response

The Right To Information (RTI) Act was introduced in the year 2005 to provide citizens of India with the right to be acquainted with any information of significance that is held by the Government or Government undertakings. The procedure for filing an RTI request is covered in another article. In this article, we look at the procedure for filing RTI appeal and study the provision of the First Appeal under the RTI Act, which empowers the RTI applicant to file an appeal for an improper response from the Government authorities.

Addressing the Appeal

The first appeal must be made to the respective First Appellate Authority (FAA). Details of the designated FAA is found on the decision letter of the Public Information Officer (PIO), the official website of RTI or from the office of the PIO. Also, furnish appeal to the Assistant Public Information Officer (APIO), who forwards it to the FAA.

Circumstances of Appeal and Time Limits

The provision of the first appeal can be utilized within the specified timeline on the event of the following circumstances.

S.No	Circumstance of Appeal	Time Limit
1	Non-response of PIO within 30 days from the receipt of application.	File appeal after 37 days of receipt of the application by PIO but within 60 days of the same.
2	Application submitted through APIO, but the PIO hasn’t responded for the same within 30 days of the receipt of application.	File appeal after 37 days of receipt of the application by PIO but within 60 days of the same.
3	Transfer of RTI application to another PIO, who doesn’t respond within 30 days of the receipt of application.	File appeal after 37 days of receipt of the application by the new PIO but within 60 days of the same.
4	PIO has issued a notice to the third party under Section 11(1), but haven’t responded to the application within 40 days from the receipt of the same.	File appeal after 47 days of receipt of the application by PIO but within 70 days of the same.
5	PIO’s decision under Section 11(3).	File appeal within 30 days from the date of receipt of PIO’s application.
6	For receiving improper information from the PIO, the demand for an inappropriate fee from the PIO, etc.	File appeal within 30 days from the date of receipt of PIO’s application.

Documents Supporting the Appeal

While filing the first appeal attach the following documents:

Self-attested photocopy of RTI application.
Self-attested copy of the PIO’s response.
Other documents are justifying the grounds of appeal.

Application Fee and Format

The application fee and format differ from state to state. The applicant can find the respective information on the official website of RTI.

Facts present in the appeal

While applying for the first appeal, mention the following facts:

Particulars of the RTI application filed to the PIO.
The information requested in the application.
The decision or ignorance of the PIO.
Information provided by the PIO.
Information not provided by the PIO.
Reasons for Grievance.

Prayers

Prayers, in this context, denote the pleas with the FAA. Some of the prayers include:

Hearing an opportunity before making a decision.
Pardon the delay occurred during submission of application.
Demand the PIO to provide information within ten days from the date of the decision of the appeal.
Demand the PIO to provide complete and accurate information.
Demand the PIO to provide certified copies of the information.

Opportunity to be Heard

The FAA is mandated to provide the applicant with an opportunity of being heard. However, taking part in the hearing is the discretion of the applicant. If the concerned applicant doesn’t want to hear, the request for the same may be mentioned in the application.