RTI fee in Goa — the verified 2026 schedule

Goa is a small state whose fee schedule gets overwritten by copy-paste Central numbers. Two errors show up again and again: guides claim the fee can be paid by Indian Postal Order — the 2006 Fee Rules allow no such instrument for Goa — and they quote inspection at ₹5 per 15 minutes, which is the Maharashtra-style charge, not Goa's ₹5 an hour after a free first hour. The governing text is short and worth reading before you file: the Goa Right to Information (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2006, notified under §27 of the RTI Act, 2005.

• ₹10 with the application, “by way of cash against proper receipt or by demand draft or by bankers cheque payable to the concerned Public Information Officer” — the words of the Rules themselves. Note what is missing: no Indian Postal Order.
• Photocopies: ₹2 a page for extracts from a publication; a priced publication is supplied at its printed price.
• Larger-size paper copies at actual charge or cost price; samples and models at actual cost.
• Diskette or floppy: ₹50 each — the electronic-mode rate the Rules fix.
• Inspection of records: no fee for the first hour; ₹5 for each subsequent hour or fraction thereof. A 70-minute inspection costs ₹5, not ₹25 — the per-15-minute arithmetic does not apply in Goa.
• No fee prescribed for a first appeal under §19(1) or a second appeal under §19(3) — the Fee Rules simply do not tax appeals.
• Below-poverty-line applicants are exempt from fee — attach proof (BPL ration card or certificate) and cite the exemption in your cover letter.

Offline, take the ₹10 in cash and insist on the proper receipt, or send a demand draft or banker's cheque drawn in the name of the PIO of the public authority you are addressing. Since the Rules name these three instruments, a PIO who rejects a properly-drafted DD is operating outside the schedule. Online, the portal handles payment electronically at submission.

Real example. Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak, a Mapusa doctor, asked a Goa office for leave to inspect a licensing file for two hours. The PIO demanded ₹5 for every 15 minutes — ₹35 for the extra hour. The 2006 Rules say the first hour is free and each subsequent hour or fraction is ₹5 flat: the correct total was ₹5. He pointed to the inspection clause in his first appeal; the FAA directed inspection on payment of ₹5, with the calculation in writing.

• Online (State public authorities): rtionline.goa.gov.in — an initiative of the Department of Information & Publicity, Government of Goa. It accepts new requests, first appeals and second appeals and shows application and payment status. Verified live on 27 August 2026.
• Online (Central public authorities in Goa): file on the Central portal rtionline.gov.in; the Central ₹10 / ₹2-a-page schedule of the RTI Rules, 2012 applies to them, not the Goa rules.
• By post or in person: the PIO of the concerned public authority, with the ₹10 fee in the permitted mode.
• Second appeals by post: to the Goa State Information Commission (constituted under §15 of the Act). The Commission's older domains gic.goa.gov.in and sic.goa.gov.in did not resolve when checked on 27 August 2026 — confirm the current address from the Government of Goa portal or the Commission's cause lists before posting.

Ask for the demand and the rule number in writing, keep your receipt, and appeal within 30 days. A fee RTI that does the trick:

1. The fee schedule applied to my application no. _____ dated _____,
   with the rule number of each charge under the Goa Right to
   Information (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2006.
2. The item-by-item calculation of Rs _____ demanded under §7(3).
3. The name and designation of the officer who computed the fee.
4. The receipt issued against my application fee, and the mode in
   which it was accepted.

• Draft it in a minute: AI RTI Drafter
• First appeal builder: First Appeal Generator
• Check the arithmetic: RTI fee calculator

No. The 2006 Fee Rules permit cash against proper receipt, demand draft or banker's cheque payable to the PIO. An IPO can be refused lawfully in Goa — use one of the three named instruments, or file online where payment is electronic.

Yes. The Rules charge nothing for the first hour and ₹5 for each subsequent hour or fraction. The per-15-minute charge you may have read elsewhere is another state's rule.

No fee is prescribed for a first appeal under §19(1) or a second appeal to the State Information Commission under §19(3), and the online portal accepts appeals directly.

Yes — rtionline.goa.gov.in accepts requests and both appeals for State public authorities. For Central offices in Goa, use rtionline.gov.in.

Proof of BPL status — typically the ration card or certificate — with the application. No application or copy fee is then payable; say so in the letter and cite the exemption.

• RTI fees in all states — index
• State-wise fee chart and portal directory
• Goa — RTI rules and resources
• How to file RTI online — the 12-step guide
• The RTI Playbook book

• Goa Right to Information (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2006 — full text — fee clauses verified against this text, 27 August 2026
• RTI Online Goa — Government of Goa filing portal
• RTI Online — Central Government portal

Last reviewed: 27 August 2026. The old page carried an IPO payment mode the Rules do not permit, a per-15-minute inspection rate that belongs to another state, and a dead Commission link as the “online portal” — all three corrected against the 2006 Fee Rules text and a live check of rtionline.goa.gov.in.