Uttar Pradesh's new RTI rules "require" below poverty individuals to pay fees to make Right to Information plea

By A Representative
The newly published Right to Information (RTI) Rules by the Government of Uttar Pradesh (UP), where one of the highest percentage of poor of the country live, do not allow Below Poverty Line (BPL) individuals to file RTI without any fees. A recent analysis has found that the UP RTI Rules 4(4) & 5(1) “do not differentiate between APL and BPL RTI applicants.”
Suggesting that this runs against the RTI Act, senior RTI activist of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative says in an e-mail alert that under the Act the BPL “applicants need not pay any fee” if they “show proof of BPL identity to claim fee waiver.”
“The UP RTI Rules do not clarify this issue”, says Nayak, warning, “Unscrupulous Public Information Officers (PIOs) are likely to start quoting this Rule to tell BPL applicants that the law has been changed requiring them to pay both application fee and additional fee to obtain information.”
Pointing out that “this has happened in other places earlier”, Nayak says, Central Information Commissioner (CIC) “in an order a few years ago said that public authorities should not reject an RTI application for non-payment of application fee. It can always be collected along with the additional fee at a later date.”
In fact, Nayak says, the Uttarakhand government goes so far as to permit “the PIO to receive an RTI application unaccompanied by the application fee whom he will notify requesting fee payment. This is a citizen-friendly approach.” As against this, “the UP RTI Rules only create new grounds for PIOs to reject RTI applications in an unreasonable manner.”
Commenting on the UP RTI Rule 5(4), which permits a PIO to charge an RTI applicant for labour and material involved for supplying copies of maps and plans, Nayak insists, “This Rule has been made in complete ignorance of the standards set by the CIC.”
Nayak notes, “In the case of Subodh Jain vs DCP, West District, Delhi Police a full Bench of the CIC ruled in 2009 against charging labour, wages, search and collation fees under the RTI Act. Where maps and plans are involved only reproduction costs may be charged.”
Comments Nayak, “The UP RTI Rules appear to misinterpret the additional fee provisions laid down in Section 7 of the RTI Act. Leaving so much discretion in the hands of the PIO is likely to result in abandonment of the principle of reasonableness of fee required under the proviso of Section 7(5) of the RTI Act.”
Pointing towards another lacuna, the analysis says, the UP RTI Rule 13(1) “permits an appellant/complainant to withdraw an appeal or complaint”, while “under Rule 13(3) an appeal or complaint will abate upon the demise of the appellant/complainant.”
Comments Nayak, “Given the current scenario where 50 RTI users/activists or their kin have been murdered and hundreds more have been beaten up severely or subjected to ostracizing in a bid to make them withdraw their complaints these provisions will be used by vested interests to force an end to appeals and complaints cases”.
Recalling that when the Government of India “contemplated similar provisions, it backed off after trenchant criticism from civil society”, Nayak says, “UP has already witnessed the murder of at least 6 RTI users/activists during the last 10 years even in the absence of withdrawal and abatement provisions.”
He adds, “There is no need to strengthen the hands of vested interests in a legal manner. RTI is not in the nature of people's right to property, which will get extinguished with their withdrawal or demise. Information of interest to one person may be of interest to others.”

Comments

Veteran Major P M Ravindran said…

Its the courts that led this way! Almost all high courts have kept the application fee and cost much, much higher than what has been prescribed by the central govt. In fact some of them have introduced fee for 1st appeal also when actually it is only an additional opportunity given to the public authority to correct the mistake of its PIO!

January 16, 2016

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

'Centre criminally negligent': SKM demands national disaster declaration in flood-hit states

By A Representative The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has urged the Centre to immediately declare the recent floods and landslides in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Haryana as a national disaster, warning that the delay in doing so has deepened the suffering of the affected population.

Saffron Kingdom – a cinematic counter-narrative to The Kashmir Files

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* “Saffron Kingdom” is a film produced in the United States by members of the Kashmiri diaspora, positioned as a response to the 2022 release “The Kashmir Files.” While the latter focused on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and framed Kashmiri Muslims as perpetrators of violence, “Saffron Kingdom” seeks to present an alternate perspective—highlighting the experiences of Kashmiri Muslims facing alleged abuses by Indian security forces.

'Govts must walk the talk on gender equality, right to health, human rights to deliver SDGs by 2030'

By A Representative With just 64 months left to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), global health and rights advocates have called upon governments to honour their commitments on gender equality and the human right to health. Speaking ahead of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), experts warned that rising anti-rights and anti-gender pushes are threatening hard-won progress on SDG-3 (health and wellbeing) and SDG-5 (gender equality).

From lazy to lost? The myths and realities behind generational panic about youth

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak Older generations in many societies often describe the young with labels such as “lazy, unproductive, lost, anxious, depoliticised, unpatriotic or wayward.” Others see them as “social media, mobile phone and porn addicts.” Such judgments arise from a generational anxiety rooted in fears of losing control and from distorted perceptions about youth, especially in the context of economic crises, conflicts, and wars in which many young lives are lost.

Counterview

Search This Blog