Quick Reply: Commercial confidence under §8(1)(d) is a harm-to-competitive-position test about a third party. A public housing MIS funded by the Union is not, without more, a third party's trade secret. Beneficiary details of subsidy programmes are a §4(1)(b)(xii) publication item.
Topic explainer · RTI Act ss.8(1)(d) and 4(1)(b)(xii) · not a CIC case against MoHUA
Commercial confidence is exempt only where disclosure would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless larger public interest warrants disclosure.
| Nature | Topic explainer. Not a case report. |
|---|---|
| Primary law | RTI Act, 2005, s.8(1)(d), s.4(1)(b)(xii), s.8(2) |
The legal test does not need a CIC caption. It is the text of §8(1)(d) read with §4(1)(b)(xii).
Section 8(1)(d) exempts “information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party”, unless larger public interest warrants disclosure. Three parts must be shown. The information is commercial confidence, a trade secret, or intellectual property. Disclosure would harm a third party's competitive position. Public interest does not outweigh that harm.
A Management Information System of a publicly funded housing scheme is held by the public authority for administration of a subsidy programme. Section 4(1)(b)(xii) already requires publication of “the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes”. A PIO who answers a PMAY-MIS request with a bare “commercial confidence” line has not applied s.8(1)(d). Ask for the recorded reasons, the identity of the third party whose competitive position is said to be harmed, and the non-exempt part under §10.
Section 8(2) remains available even where an exemption is made out: the authority may still disclose if public interest outweighs the harm.
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Last reviewed: 11 September 2026.