The Central Information Commission has asked the Delhi high court to amend its RTI fee rules, indicating that these are not in compliance with the provisions of the Right to Information Act.
These directions given after the Patiala House court demanded Rs 50 from an applicant for filing first appeal against the reply provided by its central public information officer under the RTI Act.
The Delhi high court, exercising its power under Section 28 (1) of the Right to Information Act, made the Delhi District Court (Right to Information Rules, 2008) under which Rule 11 deals with the provision concerning charging of fees during the first appeal.
“Imposing a fee of Rs 50 as mandatory requirement at the first appeal level is not in consonance with the fee structure prescribed by Act and rules by central government. According to RTI act, Except Rs 10 fee at the stage of filing request for information with the PIO, the law does not prescribe any fee at any stage including at the second appeal level at the information commission, “information commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said in his order.
The commission recommended the Delhi HC to amend the rules to bring it in conformity with RTI Act, for effective provision of access to information and to bring uniformity with the rules made by Department of personal and training which are also followed by the Supreme Court.
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