Response

If the applicant does not receive a response to the RTI within 30 days (or 35 days in case the application was transferred to another department or was submitted to APIO) of submitting the application, then the applicant can file for an appeal. The first authority/call officers to pass the PIO/APIO have been designated. These agents are responsible for receiving calls for RTIs. A list of First Appellate authorities can be found on the website: www.rti.gov.in.

On the same website, the rules for submitting the appeal can also be found. If the details are not on the website, check the department’s website or apply to the local department office. Unsatisfactory RTI appeal response If the applicant is not satisfied with the response of the RTI appeal, then the applicant can either file an RTI appeal or file a Section 18 complaint or go for a second appeal. If you have submitted an RTI application to the Assistant Public Information Officer (APIO) (Section 5 of the RTI Act, 2005), you can add 5 more days to the time limit for expecting your reply.

For PIO to reply to an application, 30 days from the date of receipt of the application For a PIO to transfer to another PIO under Sec. 6(3), 5 days from the date of receipt of application For PIO to issue notice to a 3rd party 5 days from the date of receipt of the application for a third party to make a representation to PIO within 10 days from receipt.

Reference: the local office of the department.Unsatisfactory RTI appeal response – 202100499-20210007-1968

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