Supreme Court caps RTI fees at Rs 50, Rs 5 for photocopying

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March 20, 2018

Updated: Mar 20, 2018, 10.19 PM IST

SC capped maximum RTI fees to be charged by all government authorities at Rs 50 per application

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today capped maximum RTI fees to be charged by all government authorities at Rs 50 per application and Rs 5 for photocopying charges, acknowledging concerns expressed by RTI activists that excessive fees may act as a deterrent for information seekers.

A two-judge bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and UU Lalit passed the order on a batch of petitions challenging the RTI rules of various High Courts and the Chhattisgarh Assembly which had prescribed high fees.

The Allahabad High Court was charging Rs 500 for a reply under the RTI Act, the petition claimed.

A similar plea was filed against the Chhattisgarh High Court which had dismissed a petition of an applicant Dinesh Kumar Soni, and imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on him for seeking information.

In his petition, Soni had challenged the Rule 5 and Rule 6(1) of the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha Secretariat Right to Information (Regulation of fees and costs) Rules 2011, which require that a person making an application under section 6(1) of the RTI Act was required to pay Rs 300.

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