RTI fee in Maharashtra — complete fee schedule (2026)

What changed and when. For two decades Maharashtra ran on the 2005 schedule — ₹10 application, ₹2 a page, no appeal fee. On 12 June 2026 the state notified the Maharashtra Right to Information Rules, 2026 with steep hikes: ₹30 application, ₹5 a page, ₹50 first appeal, ₹100 second appeal, plus a requirement to state the purpose of the request. RTI activists attacked the hikes and served legal notice on the government. On 7 July 2026, by notification No. GAD/12020/4/2025-GAD-6, the General Administration Department superseded the 12 June rules entirely. The rollback restored ₹10 and ₹2 — but kept two changes of its own: appeals now cost ₹20 each, and every application must stick to one subject within about 150 words. The purpose-disclosure requirement is gone. If you filed between 12 June and 6 July 2026, the superseded schedule governs that application; everything filed on or after 7 July 2026 follows the numbers below.

• Application fee (Rule 3): ₹10 — cash against a proper receipt, demand draft, banker's cheque, or a ₹10 court fee stamp
• Photocopies (Rule 4): ₹2 per page, A4 or A3, plus actual postal charges; postal is waived if you collect the reply in person
• Large-format copies: actual cost price, plus postal
• Inspection of records: first hour FREE, then ₹5 per 15 minutes or part thereof
• Information on diskette or floppy (Rule 4(2)): ₹50 plus postal
• Extracts from priced publications: the fixed price, or ₹2 per photocopied page
• First appeal, Section 19(1) (Rule 5): ₹20, in the Annexure B format
• Second appeal, Section 19(3): ₹20, in the Annexure C format — court fee stamp payable to the Commission

Yes. Section 7(5) of the RTI Act bars any fee from a below-poverty-line applicant, and the Annexure A form itself asks whether the applicant is BPL.

• Tick the BPL field and attach a photocopy of the proof
• Cite §7(5) of the RTI Act in the application
• A PIO cannot demand the ₹10 — or any further fee — from a BPL applicant

Rule 3(b) of the new rules makes each application a single-subject application that shall not ordinarily exceed 150 words. Bundle five subjects into one form and the PIO may answer only the first, advising separate applications for the rest. Draft narrow: one file, one issue, one application.

The central RTI Act, 2005 still overrides state rules on the essentials. The reply clock stays 30 days under §7(1) — 48 hours where life or liberty is involved. Under §7(6), if the PIO misses the clock, no further fee can be charged for the information. And a PIO who demands an inflated fee hands you a first-appeal ground under §19(1); the appeal itself now costs ₹20, and a wrongful demand is an appeal ground in its own right.

• A short reply: ₹10 application plus a 4-page reply at ₹2 — ₹18 if you collect it in person.
• A bigger file: 60 pages at ₹2 — ₹120 — plus ₹10 and postal at actuals. If the PIO runs late, §7(6) can wipe out the ₹120.

An appeal adds ₹20 if the reply is wrong, late or missing — still the cheapest enforcement tool a citizen owns. See Maharashtra SIC contacts and the new rules in practice for where a second appeal actually lands.

Anything above the schedule — search charges, file handling, urgent fees — is not in the Rules. Ask for the demand in writing, keep your receipt, and take it to the first appellate authority.

• AI RTI Drafter: Auto-fill PIO + Act sections
• First appeal builder: First Appeal Generator

• Online: rtionline.maharashtra.gov.in — the state filing portal
• Postal: PIO of the concerned public authority, with a demand draft or banker's cheque, or a ₹10 court fee stamp affixed to the form
• Central offices in Mumbai: file on rtionline.gov.in — ₹10 under the central rules, which the Maharashtra schedule now mirrors again

• RTI fees in all states
• State-wise fee chart
• How to file RTI in Maharashtra — the state guide
• Fee Calculator (with photocopy estimate)
• RTI forms + downloads
• Full RTI Playbook · The RTI Playbook book

• Maharashtra Right to Information Rules, 2026 — gazette notification of 7 July 2026, PDF
• The Hindu — the June hikes and the criticism that forced the rollback

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. Every fee above verified line-by-line against the 7 July 2026 gazette notification No. GAD/12020/4/2025-GAD-6.