How to File RTI in Sikkim — the postal guide

• Identify the department holding the record: Revenue for land and certificates, Home/police for verification records, Horticulture for the organic mission, Tourism for tourism records, Health, Education, Urban Development for municipal matters.
• Address the application to “The State Public Information Officer, <Department>, Government of Sikkim, Gangtok” — or the district officer for district records.
• Not sure which office? Ask any PIO in writing; a misdirected application must be transferred within 5 days (§6(3)).

• Plain paper, Nepali/Bhutia/Lepcha/English all lawful (§6(1)).
• Your name, full postal address, the information sought as numbered, record-pointing queries (“certified copy of the register entry for…” not “why”).
• No reasons required (§6(2)). One subject per application.
• Drafting help: AI RTI Drafter or the first-RTI template.

• ₹10 by Indian Postal Order (payable to the drawing officer), demand draft, or court-fee stamps as the office accepts — Sikkim files by post; keep the IPO counterfoil.
• Speed Post, preserve the POD — the 30-day clock runs from delivery to the PIO.
• BPL applicants file free on a certificate copy (§7(5)).
• Central public authorities in Sikkim: rtionline.gov.in — different route, same ₹10.

• Day 0–30 — reply due (§7(1)); 48 hours where life or liberty is involved.
• Day 31+ — silence or a bad reply: first appeal to the FAA of the same department (§19(1)), free, within a safe 30 days. Detail: First Appeal timelines · FAA appellate-review checklist.
• FAA fails — second appeal to the Sikkim State Information Commission within 90 days of the FAA order (§19(3)); a §18 complaint lies directly for refusal-to-accept or fee misuse.

• Article 371F: Sikkim's special constitutional position shapes some service records (Sikkim Subjects, old laws continuation) — frame those queries by the record's actual name.
• Small-state advantage: departments are concentrated in Gangtok; postal RTI moves reasonably fast when addressed precisely.
• Languages: Nepali is the link language of administration; Bhutia and Lepcha work in the offices serving those communities; English is universally accepted.

• Filing at a generic grievance portal instead of the PIO — the RTI clock needs the PIO.
• Asking “why” — ask for records, not answers (the drafting guide).
• Forgetting the ₹10 IPO — the application stays “defective” and the clock never starts.
• Omitting the file/register identifier the PIO needs to locate the record.

For state authorities, postal is the working route (no state portal). For central offices in Sikkim, use rtionline.gov.in.

The central and most state regimes charge no appeal fee; confirm against the Sikkim rules' current text with the SIC when filing a second appeal.

Tashiling Secretariat, Gangtok — 737101. Second appeals go there in writing, with copies of application, reply and first-appeal order.

Yes — §2(j) includes inspection; ask for a date for inspection and take your own extracts (hourly fees may apply per rules).

• How to file RTI online — national guide
• Sikkim RTI rules page
• RTI fees in every state
• Why RTI gets rejected
• Grounds for RTI rejection
• Sample RTI applications
• RTI FAQ — 25 most-asked questions
• The RTI Playbook book

• Right to Information Act, 2005 (as amended).
• Sikkim Right to Information Rules; Sikkim State Information Commission, Tashiling Secretariat, Gangtok.
• Fee and portal status per the state fee hub verification of 26 August 2026: Rs 10, postal only.

Last reviewed on: 27 August 2026. Rebuilt as a complete postal guide (the old page opened mid-structure with orphaned appeal bullets); fee and postal-only status aligned to the verified hub; Article 371F and language notes preserved.