RTI Fees

3. Application Fees:
   1. No Public Authority shall charge any fee to provide a Right to Information Application Form to a citizen making an information request.
       
   2. No Public Authority shall charge any fee to process a Right to Information request.
       
4. Fees for Information:
   
   Unless otherwise prescribed, the following Fees may be charged by a Public Authority for provision of information in response to a RTI request:
   1. Photocopying:
      1. Rs. 2/- (one side) and 4/- (both sides) of one paper, for the information provided on A4 (21 cm x 29.7 cm) and smaller size paper
          
      2. Rs. 4/- (one side) and 8/- (both sides) of one paper for the information provided on paper that is Legal size (21.59 cm x 35.56 cm) and up to A3 (29.7 cm x 42 cm)
          
      3. Information provided on paper bigger than those mentioned above will be at actual cost.
          
   2. Printout
      1. Rs. 4/- (one side) and 8/- (both sides) of one paper, for the information provided on A4 (21 cm x 29.7 cm) or smaller size paper
          
      2. Rs. 5/- (one side) and 10/- (both sides) of one paper for the information provided on paper that is Legal size (21.59 cm x 35.56 cm) and up to A3 (29.7 cm x 42 cm)
          
      3. Information printed on paper bigger than those mentioned above will be at actual cost.
          
   3. Rs. 20/- for copying information onto a Diskette, Compact Disc, USB mass drive, or similar electronic device, provided by the citizen making the request.
       
   4. Actual cost for copying information onto a Diskette, Compact Disc, USB mass drive, or similar electronic device provided by the Public Authority.
       
   5. Rs. 50/- per hour for the study or inspection of any document or material, or inspection of a construction site.
      If this takes longer than one hour, with the first hour of study/inspection being provided free of charge. This shall be without prejudice to the practice of public authorities which previously provided such inspection free of charge and which practice shall continue notwithstanding this sub-rule.
       
   6. Samples or models will be charged the actual cost.
       
   7. Information provided via e-mail will be free of charge.
       
5. Where there exists a previous Fee Schedule prescribed or issued by Public Authorities by way of circulars or regulations, that Fee Schedule shall continue to operate notwithstanding the Fees prescribed in Rule 4.
   Provided that any dispute in regard to claims relating to existing Fee Schedules may be the subject of an Appeal to be determined by the Commission in accordance with these Rules on Fees and Appeals.
    
6. Information provided free of charge:

   1. Notwithstanding anything contained in Rule 4 above, the Public Authority shall provide information prepared or contained on four pages (A4 size) of photocopies or printing, free of cost.

   2. Information that is ordinarily available free of charge shall continue to be provided free of charge.

7. Mode of Payment of Fee:

   1. Notwithstanding anything contained elsewhere in these Rules, the Public Authority may collect the Fees for information in the following manner:

      1. in cash paid to the Information Officer;

      2. Bank Draft addressed to the Accounts Officer of the Public Authority;

      3. Post office payment slip or a postal order made payable to the Accounts Officer of the Public Authority.

   2. The Information Officer shall issue a receipt against payment of a fee regardless of the manner in which it is paid.

8. Access to Information:

   1. For larger volume requests, the information officer shall inform the citizen making the request prior to providing access to the information about the various formats through which access may be obtained and their associated costs, as well of the possibility of taking notes, copying extracts, including at the discretion of the Public Authority, the possibility of photographing the material with a phone or hand held camera.

   2. Excepting the situations mentioned in Rules 5, and 6, the prescribed fee should be paid in full before access to the material is given to the citizen making the request.

9. Proactive Disclosure:

   1. The Reports submitted by the Ministers pursuant to Section 8 of the Act and Public Authorities pursuant to Section 10 of the Act shall be publicly available for inspection free of charge and for free downloading from a website, and copies, including electronic copies, provided to a citizen making the information request in accordance with the Fees prescribed in the above Rules.

   2. A Minister who is implementing a project should pursuant to Section 9 of the Act make publicly available all material relating to the project. Such material, shall be publicly available for inspection free of charge and for free downloading from a website, and copies provided to the citizen making the request in accordance with the Fees prescribed in the above Rules.

10. Appeals regarding Fees:

    1. If the citizen making the request is of the opinion that the Fee charged by the Information Officer is in excess to the amount properly required he/she may appeal to the Designated Officer within fourteen days of being informed by the Information Officer of the fee payable as per Section 31 of the Act using the format prescribed in the RTI regulations.

    2. If the citizen making the request is not satisfied with the decision of the Designated Officer, he/she may within two months of the decision appeal to the Commission following the Appeal procedure prescribed in Section 32 of the Act and relevant Rules thereto.

    3. The making of an appeal to the Designated Officer and/ or Commission does not require the payment of a fee. Appeal forms are to be issued free of charge.

11. Exemption of Fee Charge upon Successful Appeal:
    If a citizen making an information request is successful in an Appeal either to the Designated Officer or the Commission, the information requested by the citizen making the request should be provided free of charge.

12. Reimbursement of Fees:
    The Commission may, in accordance with Section 15 (g) of the Act, direct a Public Authority to reimburse any Fees charged to a citizen making a request where any information is not provided within the time period specified in the Act.