How to File RTI Online in India — 2026 Step-by-Step Guide with Sample Format

A complete 2026 guide to RTI online filing in India. Covers the Central Government portal, ready-to-use application templates in English and Hindi, fees, timelines, common mistakes, status tracking, and what to do if the reply is unsatisfactory.

You paid your taxes. You deserve an answer. A missing pension file, a stalled building sanction, an unanswered scholarship claim — all of these can be traced through a single legal right. The Right to Information Act, 2005 gives every citizen of India this right. The Central Government's online portal makes filing possible in under ten minutes from a phone or a laptop, with a Rs 10 fee paid online.

With the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 in force from 14 November 2025, the shape of Section 8(1)(j) has changed. The filing process itself has not. This guide walks through every step as it stands in 2026.

The Right to Information Act, 2005 is a Central law. It gives every citizen of India the right to ask for information from a public authority.

Who can file:

• Any individual citizen of India, from any age.
• You do not have to give a reason for the request.

Who cannot file:

• A company, firm, trust, or NGO, in its own name.
• A non-citizen.

A director or employee of a company can file in his or her own personal name. The right flows from Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, recognised in State of U.P. v. Raj Narain, (1975) 4 SCC 428.

Use RTI to get government records on a matter that concerns you or the public. Typical cases:

• Status of your pension, provident fund, or service record.
• Copy of an FIR or progress of an investigation.
• Delay in a scholarship, ration card, passport, or visa.
• Income-tax refund status or reason for rejection.
• Land records, khata or mutation, building-plan sanction.
• MPLAD or MLALAD fund utilisation in your constituency.
• Copies of tenders, contracts, orders of a public authority.
• Records of government works — roads, water, sanitation.

Do not use RTI to ask for an opinion or to ask “why”. The Act gives access to records, not to reasoning the authority has not already recorded.

The official Central Government portal is rtionline.gov.in. It covers most Central Ministries and Departments. For State Government matters, see the section that follows.

Open the portal in any browser. No login or account is needed.

The button sits on the home page. Read the terms on the next screen. Click Submit to proceed.

Pick the one that holds the record. If you are unsure, pick the parent Ministry. If the record sits with another public authority, the Public Information Officer must transfer your application under Section 6(3) within five days.

Fill in:

• Full name
• Tick “Yes” for citizen of India
• Address, pin code, phone
• Email address (reply also arrives here)
• BPL status (tick only if applicable; fee is waived)

Type the request in the application box. You have up to 3,000 characters. Write in numbered points. Ask for documents and factual status, not opinions. A specific application cannot be deflected on “no such record”.

Upload as a PDF under 1 MB. Do not attach your ID proof. The Public Information Officer cannot ask for it under Section 6(2).

Use net banking, debit or credit card, or UPI (where the portal's gateway enables it). Payment is through a secure Government gateway.

The portal displays a registration number (format: DOPTR/E/2026/XXXXX). Save it. You will also receive an email confirmation.

Go to View Status on the portal. Enter your registration number. The portal shows the current stage. You also receive email alerts.

The Public Information Officer must reply within 30 days (48 hours for life or liberty). The reply arrives by email and post. If there is no reply within the statutory period, it is a deemed refusal and a first appeal is available immediately.

Several State Governments have their own RTI portals. Maharashtra runs rtionline.maharashtra.gov.in. A number of other States still require a physical application delivered by post or in person, with the Rs 10 fee paid in cash, by postal order, or by demand draft in favour of the Accounts Officer of the public authority. The same Section 6 and Section 7 rules apply. See RTI Rules for the State-wise fee and format.

Copy the template below into the application box. Fill in the square brackets.

To,
The Central Public Information Officer
[Name of the Ministry / Department]
[Address]

Subject: Request for information under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Sir,

I am a citizen of India. I apply under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 for the following information.

1. [First item — ask for a specific document or factual status]
2. [Second item]
3. [Third item]

I have paid the prescribed fee of Rs 10 through the online gateway.

Please send the reply to my email and postal address below.

Yours faithfully,

[Name]
[Address]
[Pin code]
[Date]

सेवा में,
केंद्रीय लोक सूचना अधिकारी
[मंत्रालय / विभाग का नाम]
[पता]

विषय: सूचना का अधिकार अधिनियम, 2005 की धारा 6(1) के तहत सूचना प्राप्त करने हेतु आवेदन।

महोदय,

मैं भारत का नागरिक हूँ। मैं सूचना का अधिकार अधिनियम, 2005 की धारा 6(1) के तहत निम्नलिखित सूचना प्राप्त करना चाहता/चाहती हूँ।

1. [पहली सूचना]
2. [दूसरी सूचना]
3. [तीसरी सूचना]

मैंने 10 रुपये का निर्धारित शुल्क ऑनलाइन जमा कर दिया है।

कृपया उत्तर मेरे नीचे दिए गए ईमेल और डाक पते पर भेजें।

भवदीय,

[नाम]
[पता]
[पिन कोड]
[दिनांक]

If the Public Information Officer does not reply within the statutory period, it is a deemed refusal under Section 7(2). Proceed to first appeal.

• Do not ask for opinions. “Why was my file rejected?” is an opinion question. Replace with: “Please provide a certified copy of the file noting on my application number X.”
• Do not ask vague questions. Name the document, the date, and the office.
• Do not combine multiple subjects. One application, one subject.
• Do not file with the wrong Ministry. Section 6(3) transfer wastes time.
• Do not name a third party without a public interest basis. After 14 November 2025, Section 8(1)(j) personal-information refusals are more common. State the public interest ground clearly.

On rtionline.gov.in, click View Status. Enter your registration number and email. Statuses include:

• Received — Public Information Officer has the application.
• Under Process — decision pending.
• Transferred — sent to another public authority under Section 6(3).
• Reply Sent — reply despatched.

Email alerts run at each stage.

File within 30 days of the Public Information Officer's reply or deemed refusal. On the portal, use the Submit First Appeal option. The First Appellate Authority is the officer senior to the Public Information Officer. No fee is payable for a first appeal at the Central Government level. The First Appellate Authority must decide within 30 days, extendable to 45 days with reasons recorded.

If the First Appellate Authority's order is unsatisfactory, or there is no order within the period, file a second appeal within 90 days to the Central Information Commission at cic.gov.in. The Commission's order is binding under Section 19(7).

See the Guide for applicants and the first-appeal template.

1. Check Section 4 first. Every public authority publishes seventeen categories of information on its website under Section 4(1)(b). The answer may already be online.
2. Be specific. Name the file, date, and office.
3. Ask for certified copies. “Please provide a certified copy of…” is admissible in other proceedings.
4. Keep one subject per application. Keeps the reply focused and reduces transfer delay.
5. Follow up politely by email on day 25. Often moves a stalled file.
6. Cite Section 8(2) where relevant. Even when an exemption under Section 8(1) is invoked, the Public Information Officer can disclose where public interest outweighs the harm.

RTI online filing in India is one of the most effective ways for a citizen to engage with the government. A Rs 10 fee and a clear application, filed on rtionline.gov.in, can return a government record within thirty days. The Right to Information Act, 2005 was enacted for this purpose. Use it for records, not opinions. Follow the appeal path if the reply is unsatisfactory. Expect a statutory response on time.

For the full legal text, see the RTI Act, 2005. For concept notes and drafting tips, see Guide for applicants and our library of sample RTI applications for common subjects.

No. The Central portal covers only Central Government Ministries and Departments. Some States (for example, Maharashtra at rtionline.maharashtra.gov.in) run their own portals. Where a State has no portal, file a physical application with the Public Information Officer of the concerned State public authority.

Pick the one most closely connected to your subject. If the Public Information Officer does not hold the record, Section 6(3) requires a transfer to the right public authority within five days. The thirty-day reply period restarts from the date of receipt by the transferee.

Thirty days from the date of receipt. 48 hours for life or liberty. 40 days where a third-party procedure under Section 11 is engaged. If the Public Information Officer does not reply within the period, it is a deemed refusal and a first appeal is available.

No. You must provide your name and address so the reply can be sent to you. However, Section 6(2) bars the Public Information Officer from asking why you want the information.

At the Central Government level, no fee is payable for a first appeal on rtionline.gov.in. State rules vary.

• The Right to Information Act, 2005 — current text.
• The RTI Act, 2005 — summary, sections, and notes.
• Guide for applicants.
• Template: first RTI application.
• Sample RTI applications — ready drafts for more than thirty common subjects.
• Template: first appeal.
• Template: second appeal.
• Why RTI applications get rejected — and how to avoid it.
• PIO reply after DPDP Rules, 2025.

1. The Right to Information Act, 2005 (No. 22 of 2005).
2. The Right to Information (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2005, Central Government.
3. The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, notified on 14 November 2025.
4. Official RTI Online Portal, Government of India: rtionline.gov.in, operated by the Department of Personnel and Training through the National Informatics Centre.
5. Central Information Commission: cic.gov.in.
6. State of U.P. v. Raj Narain, (1975) 4 SCC 428.
7. Central Board of Secondary Education v. Aditya Bandopadhyay, (2011) 8 SCC 497.

19 April 2026