RTI CPD Academy — High-Impact Certification Track

Master RTI practice in a structured 12-module program designed to improve decision quality, drafting speed, and appellate defensibility. You learn the law the way it is actually applied: section by section, with the reasoning that survives a second appeal before the Central or State Information Commission.

• CPIO track — for officers and staff who receive applications under section 6(1). You practise classifying requests, applying Section 8 exemptions honestly, invoking the third-party procedure under Section 11 correctly, and writing replies that carry a reasoned speaking order under Section 7(8).
• FAA track — for first appellate authorities and anyone who reviews PIO decisions. The focus is fair, fast first appeals under Section 19(1), and catching the errors that get overturned later.
• Activist track — for citizens, journalists and campaigners. You learn to frame questions that cannot be deflected, pick the right public authority, and use the 30-day clock in Section 7(1) as a tool rather than a hope.
• DPDP-RTI track — for records officers handling personal data. It maps where the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 stops and the RTI Act continues, so privacy is not used as a false shield.
• Public Works & Tenders track — for auditors, engineers and ward-committee members who follow tender documents, measurement books and muster rolls.

• Classify rejections correctly under Section 8(1)
• Draft reasoned speaking orders under Section 7(8)
• Apply Section 11 third-party procedure without defects
• Improve first-appeal success quality with citation-backed reasoning

• Modules: 12
• Guided CPD effort: 30 hours
• Quiz model: 10 randomized questions/module
• Pass benchmark: 70%
• Final: 25 questions · 15 min · 3 attempts
• Credential: verifiable certificate serial

Every quiz question maps back to a section of the RTI Act, 2005 or a decided appeal, so a pass means you can cite, not just recall.

The RTI Act carries real personal consequences for officers. Under Section 20, an Information Commission can penalise a PIO at ₹250 per day of delay, up to ₹25,000 per case, and can recommend disciplinary action for persistent failures. Most penalties trace back to avoidable drafting errors: a rejection with no reason, a Section 8 claim with no severability check under Section 10, or a missed third-party hearing. Training that drills these habits is cheaper than learning them in a hearing.

On the citizen side, the same knowledge works in reverse. An applicant who knows Section 7(8) and Section 19 writes applications that get answered, because the officer on the other end can see the request will travel well if it is appealed.

• Track progression to RTI Guardian
• Build score streak across modules
• Improve XP-style progress through quiz performance

It is an RTI Wiki credential with a verifiable serial, not a government certificate. Its value is what it proves: you have worked through the statute, the decided appeals and the drafting practice, and you can show the certificate number to an employer, a department or an editor who asks.

There is no expiry. The program is designed for about 30 guided hours across the CPIO track's 12 modules, but you can move faster or slower. Streaks and XP are there to keep momentum, not to set a deadline.

No. Officers use it to do the job better; citizens, journalists and advocates use it to know exactly what the officer's obligations are. Both walk out with the same statutory map.

You get three attempts at the 25-question final. Review the module you missed, retake it — the quiz bank randomises, so the second attempt tests understanding rather than memory of question order.

• The RTI Playbook — the full field manual, from first application to second appeal
• Read the RTI Act, 2005 with plain-English explanations
• Important RTI decisions that shaped how the Act works today
• Deep explanations of tricky sections like 8(1)(j) and 11