Right to Information: User Guide

What if the application is accepted?

If your application is in order and no exemptions are applicable to the information you have requested, then you should be able to obtain the information you asked for.

The Central Act requires that PIOs shall provide information within 30 days. However, applications requesting information regarding a citizen's life and liberty must be granted or refused within 48 hours.

If you have requested information from a public authority that was supplied in confidence by a third party (ie. someone or some body other than the public authority), within 5 days of receipt of application the public authority is required to inform the third party through a written notice of their intention to disclose the information and the third party must be given 10 days to respond either in writing or orally, in case they would like to argue against disclosure. This means that where confidential third party information is being requested, the time limits are extended to 40 days.

If your application is granted, the Central Act requires that you are informed in writing that your request has been accepted. The Central Act requires that the notice advises:

• what fees are payable (together with a calculation of how the fee was arrived at);
• how you can get your information; and
• how you can appeal if you are unhappy with either the amount of the fee being charged and/or the form of access being provided.

Notably, access will not be permitted until the fees imposed are paid. The time taken to pay the fees is not included in the 30 days deadline.

Under the Central Act, where access is to be provided and the person who is getting access is "sensorily disabled", the PIO or APIO will provide assistance to enable access, including assistance with inspection if necessary.

You should note that the Central Act also provides for partial disclosure of information which means that it is possible for an application to be granted in part. This might happen where some of the information in the documents you requested is sensitive and falls under an exemption. In such cases, the sensitive information can be removed or blacked out from the record and then the remainder of the information can be released to you. If partial disclosure is ordered, you can still appeal against the decision not to disclose the remainder of the information.

Please click on the link to the Central RTI Act to read the detailed provisions contained in the law. Please click on the link to CHRI's State RTI pages to find out more about relevant rules and implementation in your specific State.