As India marks 21 years of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, a new report by the civil rights to group Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) has exposed a severe crisis in the functioning of Information Commissions (ICs), the final appellate authorities mandated to safeguard people's fundamental right to information.
The 'Report Card on the Performance of Information Commissions in India, 2025-26' reveals that 3,85,716 appeals and complaints were pending across 28 information commissions as of June 30, 2026. The report, released on the 21st anniversary of the RTI Act, paints a grim picture of a law that has been rendered increasingly ineffective by institutional paralysis.
Key Findings
- Nearly 4 lakh cases pending in information commissions across India, with Maharashtra SIC having the highest backlog at 77,397 cases, followed by Chhattisgarh (52,559), Bihar (42,243), and the Central Information Commission (39,121).
- 14 commissions have an estimated waiting time of more than 1 year to dispose of a matter filed on July 1, 2026.
- 3 of these 14 commissions have an estimated waiting time of more than 15 years — Tripura SIC (19 years and 8 months), Madhya Pradesh SIC (19 years and 2 months), and Chhattisgarh SIC (18 years).
- The Central Information Commission itself would take an estimated 2 years and 3 months to dispose of a new appeal.
- 2,61,669 appeals and complaints were registered between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026, while only 2,41,627 were disposed — a gap that continues to fuel the backlog.
- 37,701 appeals/complaints were returned without passing any orders, with the CIC returning 14,603 cases (nearly one-third of those received) and Maharashtra SIC returning 14,140 cases.
- The Jharkhand SIC remained defunct throughout the period, while the Himachal Pradesh SIC has been defunct since July 3, 2025.
- The Rajasthan SIC refused to provide information on registered and disposed cases, stating the information was available in its annual report — which had not yet been published.
The report attributes the crisis largely to vacancies in commissions and tardy rates of disposal by commissioners. In October 2023, the Supreme Court had noted that the failure to fill vacancies is leading to a situation where "the right to information which is recognized under an Act of Parliament becomes a dead letter."
The findings come at a time when citizens across India are taking to the streets to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the SIR (Special Intensive Revision). The RTI law has been instrumental in accessing information from the Election Commission of India — information that has established that the decision to undertake the SIR was not taken by the ECI and that the Commission was working in an illegal manner.
"The long delays in disposal of cases can be attributed largely to two factors: vacancies in commissions and tardy rate of disposal by commissioners," the report states. "Inordinate delays by ICs in disposing appeals/complaints violate the basic objective of the RTI Act. Long delays in the commissions render the law ineffective for people, especially for those living at the margins, who are most dependent on government services."
The report also highlights the problematic practice of returning appeals/complaints without passing orders. "Nearly 95% of the cases returned by the CIC were not resubmitted to the commission," the report notes, adding that this "creates an apprehension that this is perhaps a way of frustrating information seekers in a bid to reduce backlogs."
Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri, in a statement marking the 21st anniversary, said:
"As citizens of India take to the streets to demand the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and scrapping of the SIR, let us take a moment to celebrate our Right to Information law that turns 21 today. The RTI law has been instrumental in accessing information from the Election Commission of India — information that has established that the decision to undertake the SIR was not taken by the ECI and that the Commission was working in an illegal manner.
On the occasion of the 21st anniversary of the RTI Act, Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) has released the key findings of the 'Report Card on the Performance of Information Commissions in India, 2025-26', which shows that:
- Nearly 4 lakh cases are pending in information commissions across India.
- 14 commissions have an estimated waiting time of more than 1 year to dispose a matter.
- 3 of these 14 commissions have an estimated waiting time of more than 15 years.
Let us pledge to use and protect our fundamental Right to Information, that empowers us to hold the powerful to account."
The RTI Act, enacted in 2005, has been used extensively over the last 21 years to hold governments and functionaries accountable for corruption and lapses in the delivery of essential services. Estimates suggest that every year 4 to 6 million RTI applications are filed across the country.
The report is based on an analysis of information accessed under the RTI Act from 29 information commissions, with a total of 146 RTI applications filed with state information commissions and the Central Information Commission.
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