Law
In May 2005, the national Right to Information Act 2005 was passed by Parliament. The RTI Act 2005 received Presidential assent on 15 June and came fully into force on 12 October 2005. (For more information on the passage of the RTI Act 2005 and implementation at the national level, click here.) The RTI Act 2005 covers all Central, State and local government bodies and applies to the State Government of Bihar.
The Bihar Government has started implementing the RTI Act 2005. The Bihar Government has issued the Bihar Right to Information Rules, 2006.
The state government of Bihar amended some provisions of the Bihar Right to Information Rule, 2006 framed by the state government under section 28 of RTI Act. This was notified on November 19, 2009 and is called Bihar Right to Information (Amendment) Rules, 2009. The amendment has made the application under RTI Act, 2005 costlier because now the applicants will have to pay Rs/- 10 for each of the application and only one information would be made available in the one application. Previously the information seekers could seek more than one information in one application, for which he had to pay only rupees 10. This amendment has made the rules even more anti- poor wherein the applicant will have to shell out extra money. Apart from this the information is limited to just 150 words per page, and they have also introduced a format for filing an application. Hence CHRI in collaboration with its external Collaborator Mr. Ajay Balajee critiqued and suggested recommendations on (Bihar Right to Information (Amendment) Rules, 2009 in order to appeal to State Government of Bihar to further amend the provisions of the rules and bring it in tune with the Central right to Information Act.
Details of Fee & Costs
Application |
Rs 10 (Each RTI application must be limited to one subject matter and 150 words only) |
Mode of payment |
Cash against receipt/demand draft/banker cheque/non-judicial stamp paper |
Additional Fees: |
|
A-4 / A-3 paper |
Rs 2 per page |
Large size paper |
Actual cost |
Photo |
Rs 10 per photo |
Floppy/disk |
Rs 50 |
Inspection of records |
First hour free and Rs 5 each subsequent hour |
Sample/Model/Printed publications |
Actual cost/ Fixed price, photocopies/extracts - Rs.2 per page |
Appeal fees: |
|
For BPL Requestors |
Information upto 10 pages free of cost, information exceeding 10 pages - fee rules to apply. |
For General Public |
First appeal to appllate authority Rs.10, Second appeal to State Information Commission - Rs.10 |
Bihar State Information Commission
Fourth Floor Soochna Bhawan Bailey Road
Patna - 800015, Bihar ( India )
E-mail: bsicpatna@gmail.com
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