Postal orders without stamps to be accepted along with an RTI Application

CIC directions and recommendations to respective authorities to check wastage of time and harassment to the information seekers under Right to Information Act, 2005

An issue was taken up before the Central Information Commission (CIC) that while seeking information under Right to Information Act, 2005, CPIOs does not accept the requisite fee in cash and instead the information seekers are asked to deposit the fee with the Cashier who, generally, is not located in the same office.

The fee is also payable through the Indian Postal Orders (IPOs), however, the public authorities often refuse to accept the IPOs if they are not stamped or not properly stamped by the Postal authorities. The Postal authorities issue blank IPOs and the information seekers generally mention the names of the Accounts Officers of the Public Authority as payee. Still the postal orders are not being accepted by some of the public authorities. The above causes enormous wastage of time and harassment to the information seekers resultantly also leading to delay in getting information.

As a remedy to above, the CIC has issued following recommendations and directions to respective public authorities, namely:

•   All public authorities to direct the officers under their command to accept demand drafts or banker cheques or IPOs payable to their Accounts Officers of the public authority.
•   No instrument to be returned on the ground that it has not been drawn in the name of a particular officer. So long as the instrument has been drawn in favour of the Accounts Officer, it is to be accepted in all circumstances.
•   All IPOs of the denomination of higher values vis-à-vis the fee/ copying charges to be accepted when the senders do not ask for refund of the excess amount.
•   Application fee and copying charges to be accepted in cash from the information seekers. The CPIOs and APIOs will not direct the information seekers to deposit the fee with the officers located in other buildings / offices. Department of Post and Telecommunication (DoPT) to direct all the CPIOs / APIOs / Accounts Officers to accept money orders towards the deposition of fee / copying charges.
•   Department of Posts to consider designating all Departmental Post Offices to accept RTI applications and the requisite fee.
•   Department of Posts is advised to issue RTI stamps of the denomination of Rs. 10/-.
•   The CPIOs and the Appellate Authorities directed to mention their names, designations and telephone and fax numbers in the RTI related correspondence.

In reference to above directives and recommendations, all Ministries/Departments/Public Authorities of the Central Government has been asked to give urgent consideration to the above recommendations.

In Re: Subhash Chandra Agrawal against Ministry of Home Affairs (Public Authority)
(Central Information Commission, 27.08.2013)