DoPT and RTI Online helpdesk — who to call (2026)

Two institutions sit behind every Central RTI application, and callers mix them up constantly. The Department of Personnel and Training under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions is the nodal ministry for the RTI Act — it makes the rules, runs the RTI Online portal and publishes the circulars. The helpdesk, in turn, exists for one thing: keeping the portal's filings and payments moving. Knowing which is which saves days.

The numbers and the email above are published on rtionline.gov.in itself. Call them for:

• Payment gone through, no registration number — the most common failure; the helpdesk traces the transaction and restores or refunds the filing
• Wrong public authority selected — a transfer under Section 6(3) may be needed, and the helpdesk explains the status flag
• Upload or size errors at submission
• First-appeal filing errors against your original registration number
• Status flags you do not understand — transferred, FAA order awaited, closed

What the helpdesk will not do is answer substantive RTI questions — which section applies, whether a refusal was lawful, why a ministry ignored your application. Those are appeal questions, not portal questions, and the address for them is the First Appellate Authority or, later, the Central Information Commission, not the helpline.

A helpdesk ticket that sits unanswered is itself a record you can move. DoPT and NIC are public authorities; the portal's transaction trail is information under the Act.

1. The status of helpdesk ticket no. _____ dated _____ regarding registration of my RTI application.
2. The date my payment of Rs _____ towards application fee was received, and the reconciliation status with the portal.
3. The name and designation of the officer handling the ticket, and the reasons for delay beyond the helpdesk response norms.
4. The number of payment-failure complaints received on rtionline.gov.in in the last 6 months, and how many were resolved.

Real example. Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak's ₹10 was debited twice on a single filing and one attempt returned no registration number. The helpdesk traced the orphaned payment in two working days, issued the registration number against it, and flagged the duplicate for refund — but only after he called with the bank reference in hand, which is the detail that unlocks every payment ticket.

• Draft it in a minute: AI RTI Drafter
• File the next step: First Appeal Generator
• Track your deadlines: Timeline Tracker

011-24010690 and 011-24010691, from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm Monday to Friday excluding holidays, as published on rtionline.gov.in. Call with your registration number and bank payment reference at hand.

No. Rejections are the PIO's act — challenge them before the First Appellate Authority within 30 days, then the CIC.

To DoPT, the nodal ministry — its RTI pages on dopt.gov.in carry the RTI Rules, 2012 and the circulars built on them.

No — each state runs its own. Kerala, Jharkhand, J&K and others have their own portals with their own support.

• All helplines and grievance routes
• How to file RTI online — the 12-step guide
• RTI fee for Central Government
• The RTI Playbook book

• rtionline.gov.in — the Central online filing portal, which publishes the helpdesk numbers, hours and email
• Department of Personnel and Training

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. Helpdesk numbers, hours and email verified against rtionline.gov.in this run; the old page carried an outdated timing and email id, which have been corrected.