APPLYING THE LAW

Keeping a Register of Applications

The Central Act specifically includes specific monitoring and reporting duties. The Act requires Information Commissions to produce Annual Reports on implementation, but also states that every Ministry or Department is under a duty to provide the Information Commission with whatever information they need to produce the Annual Report. In practice, this will require the on-going collection of statistical information on the processing of applications and appeals.

It is good practice to register every information request or log them into a computer log so that you can better track how applications and appeals are being handled. To this end, all requesters should be issued with a receipt and a reference number when they submit their application - even if the request is dealt with on the spot and requires no further action. Keeping a record of how each request is disposed of will allow every organisation to monitor how many requests they are receiving and responding to. Issuing a receipt is also important because it means that the requester can better track their application, and there will be a record of the date the application was received, which might be needed in the event of a follow-up, such as an appeal or a further request for the same or related information. If the information cannot be provided immediately, recording the request and issuing a reference number will allow the progress of the request to be tracked within your organisation.

Drawing on experience in India and abroad, at a minimum, even public body should require each APIO and PIO to maintain a register of applications, which records:

• The total applications received, disposed of and outstanding;
• For each application received:
  • name of applicant;
  • date the application was received;
  • summary of information requested;
  • fees charged, if any;
  • time taken to process the request;
  • what information was released, if any;
  • if the application was rejected, the exemption clause relied upon;
  • if the application was rejected, whether the rejection was apppealed and if so, what was the result of the appeal.

Importantly, collecting this kind of information will generally make monitoring of the implementation of RTI laws easier. This is useful at the organisational level, because this kind of data can be used to support submissions to Government for additional resources to support implementation of RTI if necessary. Also, the Government can better assess where blockages may be occurring and put in place strategies for assisting organisations to deal with them.