This article is written by Team LawSikho. This article discusses the identification of public authorities and public information officer.

Information Officer

Once you identify what information you want, it becomes important to find out the public authority and department which you can obtain it from. Say, you applied to Delhi Development Authority for purchasing a flat in 2012 and the same was not allotted to you while the others who applied after you, for the same amount, were allotted to them. What do you do? How do you know who to seek information from? Where do you find the details of the concerned department?

The answer to this is not always direct. This chapter aims at examining how to identify and find the details of the relevant department on the internet for the purpose of filing an application under the RTI Act.

Step 1 – Finding The Relevant Public Authority

In most of the cases, you will have a fair idea about the department which is likely to have records of information you are seeking and before whom you ought to file your RTI application seeking relevant information. For example, if your local drainage system is in a bad shape, you know that your application has to be addressed to the local Municipal Corporation. Similarly, if you want information on your ration card, you need to approach the Food Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department. However, there are times when we get stuck about the department under which the subject matter of our application would fall under. In such cases, identifying relevant departments and public authorities gets simplified by using search engines such as Google, Yahoo etc. The process is simple – You just need to put in the most accurate words to describe your information and Google gives a list of links which helps you in identifying the right department.  To give you a better understanding, let us assume you bought a flat from HUDA in Gurgaon but despite the promises, the same is not allotted to you yet. How would you know which department to write your application to for seeking information? You don’t have to be a search expert. All you have to do is – write your keywords correctly. In the present case, merely writing “flat purchase HUDA” will show you the right website (of HUDA), from where you can quickly identify the department i.e. Haryana Urban Development Authority, India. Let’s take another example – say you want certain information from Technology, Information, Forecasting Assessment Council (TIFAC).  Now, we know that TIFAC is an autonomous body and does not fall squarely within the RTI Act. What do you do? How do you identify the department from whom you can get your information from? In cases like these, it is always advisable to go on their official website, check their ‘HOME’ or ‘ABOUT US’ page and find out under which department is the body established under. On checking their website, you will find that TIFAC is established under the Department of Science and Technology. Thus, now you can approach the PIO of the Department of Science and Technology to get important information about TIFAC.

Note

Please note that even if you are unable to identify the department or you address your application to the wrong department, your application does not become invalid. Section 6(2) of the Right to Information Act imposes a duty upon the PIO to transfer the application to the correct department within 5 days of receiving the application and the applicant shall be duly informed of such transfer. In this regard, let’s assume that you bought a flat in New Delhi from the Delhi Government and you wanted information on construction works on a particular plot. Your plot falls under Delhi Development Authority, India. Unaware, you address your RTI application to HUDA. What happens then? Well, HUDA will simply address a letter to DDA transferring the said application and will duly intimate you of such transfer. The only issue that arises in such a case is that the concerned PIO has an additional 5 days to respond to your application.

Important Links

You may view the following links to get details of certain Ministries, their departments and PIOs. Please note this is not an exhaustive list and contains details of only select departments and ministries. See the links below:

• CIC website link
• Indiapost website link

Step 2 – Locating the public information officer

After having identified the department, the next step would be locating PIO officers which might not be an easy task and may sometimes, consume a lot of your time. The role of PIOs is pivotal as it is they who make the right of citizens to seek Information a reality. The Act envisages that each public authority must appoint a PIO to disseminate information and to make him liable for the penalty in case of default. Most of the Public authorities have placed details of PIO and APIO on their websites. You can follow any of the following methods to get the PIO details:

a) Once you have identified that the information sought by you falls within the purview of a particular public authority, you should visit their official website. On the website, look for RTI link or RTI icon on the Home page. Once you find the RTI tab, click on it and look through the contents to locate PIO/APIO details. For example – You identified HUDA as the public authority to whom your application regarding allotment of flats in Gurgaon has to be sent out. Now, you want to find out who should you address it to. The process is simple, you go on their website http://ww1.hudagov.in/ and look for RTI link or contact us page.

b) Incase you are unable to trace the PIO/ APIO details from the website, you can also call at the office of the relevant Public Authority, the details of which should be available on their “Contact us” tab. Alternatively, you can also visit the address of the nearest Public Authority and ask for PIO details. You can directly send your application addressing the “Public Information Officer”, without naming the person as the officers keep changing with time and the information available on the internet might not be updated for a long time.

c) Further, the Department of Posts has appointed Central Assistant Public Information (CAPIO) Officers in various post offices and they work as Assistant Public Information Officers for all the public authorities under the central Government departments. These are the officers at the sub-divisional level to whom a person can give his RTI application or appeal for being transferred to the relevant authority. These officers send the application or appeal to the PIO or the concerned appellate authority and facilitate in ensuring that the application reaches to the Public Authority for processing. You may access the list of CPIOS and CAPIO of various states by clicking on the given links:

1. Details of Central PIO – https://www.indiapost.gov.in/sites/PostalCircles/
2. Details of Central APIO – https://www.indiapost.gov.in/sites/

Note

Remember that you may not be able to file your RTI in each post office. You need to ask the post office headquarters of your village/ town/ city to find out in which branch the assistant central public information officer has been designated under the RTI Act. The Department of Post has designated around 4,707 CAPIOs across the country as of 30 June 2011 which is likely to have increased by now.

d) You can also take help of local/state-level NGOs or RTI helpline phone numbers for locating the correct PIO, who would be holding information required by you. You can call RTI National Helpline on any of the 7 days of the week from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at (080) 666-00-999

State helpline

You can also post your query with regard to PIO on http://www.rtiindia.org/

When no PIO has been appointed by the Public Authority

Sometimes, applicants face hardship when no PIO has been appointed by the Public Authority. Now, it is mandatory for all Public Authorities to appoint PIOs under Section 5 of the Act which provides that all Public Authorities shall appoint Public Information Officers within hundred days of enactment of the RTI Act. The Applicant, thus, has a right to file a complaint to the State Information Commission or Central Information Commission, as the case may be, under Section 18 of the RTI Act if no PIO, APIO or First Appellate Authority (FAA) has been appointed by the Public Authority. [Discussed in the module on appeals]

Whether private bodies are covered under the RTI Act?

Why is this discussion relevant? It is clear that statutory undertakings of the government or government companies (i.e. where the government has more than 50% stake would be covered under RTI. However, in today’s time, governments have permitted various commercial activities (which could be of public relevance) to be undertaken by private bodies under a broader regulatory framework. Sometimes, governments undertake business through a minority stake (49 percent or less) in joint ventures, with private partners. Given this situation, on many occasions, information relevant to citizens is held with private parties, and it may become important for them to access it.

Since the RTI Act is applicable only to the Public Authorities, private bodies such as private schools, colleges, co-operative societies, banks, companies, trusts, service providers etc. are outside its purview. However, all the information with regard to above private bodies which a public authority’s entitled and has access to under any law would form part of “Information” under Section 2(f) of the RTI Act and the same can also be accessed by you.

For example, state-level electricity acts permit the state electricity commission to access certain kinds of information from electricity distribution companies, which may be entirely private, partly government-owned (e.g. 49 percent) or completely government owned. Under these circumstances, a citizen may have the power to request the state electricity commission or similar body to supply information pertaining to a private distribution company (which it is in any case statutorily entitled to access), or an agreement which captures the relation of the electricity commission with the distribution company. (See Nathi Mal Gupta vs. Power Dept, GNCTD, decided by the Central Information Commission on 29th October 2014).Further, where the distribution company itself has some element of government ownership or control (even a 49% stake in a joint venture with certain minimal powers allocated to the government), it may directly be considered to be the public authority and provide information to a citizen. (See Sarbajit Roy vs. Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission, decided by the Central Information Commission on 30th November 2006; Southern Electricity Supply Company of Orissa vs. the State of Orissa, decided by Orissa High Court on 9th December 2009).

However, an important point to note here is that a public authority cannot act contrary to the law/statute and direct a private body to furnish information. If there is a bar, prohibition, restriction or precondition under any statute for directing a private body to furnish information, the said bar, prohibition, restriction or precondition will continue to apply and only when the conditions are satisfied, the public authority is obliged to get information. What this means is that the public authority cannot usurp privacy laws to supply the information sought unless the terms of the disclosure have been satisfied completely by the public authority.