Table of Contents
The RTI Act, 2005 — section-by-section citizen guide
In one line: This index gives you a plain-English citizen guide to each section of the Right to Information Act, 2005, as amended by the 2019 Amendment and the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025. The five most-used sections — 4, 6, 7, 19 and 20 — are written up in full; the rest are short summaries that we expand as we publish.
The Right to Information Act, 2005 (Act No. 22 of 2005) has 31 sections divided into six chapters. The 2019 amendment changed the tenure and salary of Information Commissioners. The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (notified 14 November 2025) replaced the proviso to Section 8(1)(j) and shifted the public-interest override to Section 8(2). Every page below is written for citizens — what the section says in plain English, what it means for you in practice, and what to do if the public authority misuses it.
Chapter I — Preliminary
Chapter II — Right to information and obligations of public authorities
- Section 3 — Right to information available to citizens. Coming soon — who can file.
- Section 4 — Suo motu disclosure obligations. What every office must publish on its own — the 17 mandatory categories, beneficiary lists, salaries, budgets, and how to enforce non-compliance.
- Section 5 — Designation of Public Information Officers. Coming soon — the PIO and Assistant PIO chain.
- Section 6 — How to request information. The gateway clause: writing, no reasons, 5-day transfer if you sent it to the wrong office.
- Section 7 — The 30-day clock. Disposal of request, 48-hour life-and-liberty rule, free disclosure after delay, defeat of the “voluminous” excuse.
- Section 8 — Exemptions. Coming soon — the ten exemption clauses and their honest application.
- Section 9 — Grounds for rejection on copyright. Coming soon.
- Section 10 — Severability. Coming soon — the duty to disclose the non-exempt part.
- Section 11 — Third-party information and 40-day timeline. Coming soon.
Chapter III — The Central Information Commission
- Section 12 — Constitution of the CIC. Coming soon.
- Section 13 — Term of office, salaries and allowances of CIC members. Coming soon — 2019 amendment effects.
- Section 14 — Removal of the Chief Information Commissioner. Coming soon.
Chapter IV — The State Information Commission
- Section 15 — Constitution of the SIC. Coming soon.
- Section 16 — Term of office, salaries and allowances of SIC members. Coming soon.
- Section 17 — Removal of the State Chief Information Commissioner. Coming soon.
Chapter V — Powers and functions of the Information Commissions, appeal and penalties
- Section 18 — Powers and functions of the Commissions. Coming soon — the complaint route, independent of Section 19 appeal.
- Section 19 — Appeals. The two-tier ladder: 30-day first appeal to a senior officer, 90-day second appeal to the Information Commission, with the burden of proof on the PIO.
- Section 20 — Penalties. Rs 250 a day, Rs 25,000 ceiling personal penalty on the PIO, plus disciplinary action under service rules.
Chapter VI — Miscellaneous
- Section 21 — Protection of action taken in good faith. Coming soon.
- Section 22 — Act to have overriding effect over Official Secrets Act. Coming soon.
- Section 23 — Bar of jurisdiction of courts. Coming soon.
- Section 24 — Act not to apply to certain organisations. Coming soon — intelligence and security exclusions.
- Section 25 — Monitoring and reporting by the Commissions. Coming soon.
- Section 26 — Public information campaign by the appropriate Government. Coming soon.
- Section 27 — Power to make rules by the appropriate Government. Coming soon.
- Section 28 — Power of the competent authority to make rules. Coming soon.
- Section 29 — Laying of rules before Parliament/Legislature. Coming soon.
- Section 30 — Power to remove difficulties. Coming soon.
- Section 31 — Repeal of the Freedom of Information Act, 2002. Coming soon.
Notice on the 2025 amendment
The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 were notified in the Gazette of India on 14 November 2025. With that notification, Section 44(3) of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 became operational and replaced the proviso to Section 8(1)(j) of the Right to Information Act, 2005. The larger public-interest override in the earlier clause now sits in Section 8(2).
For a practitioner note on the change, see DPDP Rules, 2025: The amendment to Section 8(1)(j).
Supporting material
Sources
- Right to Information Act, 2005 (No. 22 of 2005). Full text on India Code.
- Right to Information (Amendment) Act, 2019 (No. 24 of 2019).
- Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (No. 22 of 2023), Section 44(3).
- Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, notified 14 November 2025.
Last reviewed on: 15 May 2026 — RTI Wiki editorial team.