No Action on Your Complaint? How to Use RTI to Force Government

1. Step 1. File grievance on the appropriate portal — CPGRAMS, Consumer Helpline, Banking Ombudsman, IRDA portal, TRAI DND, Cyber Crime portal, NPCI dispute, etc.
2. Step 2. Wait for the portal's SLA — 30 days for CPGRAMS, 21 days for Banking Ombudsman.
3. Step 3. If “Closed / Resolved” but not actually resolved, or silence beyond SLA, file RTI.
4. Step 4. RTI reply triggers action or First Appeal.
5. Step 5. Second Appeal to CIC / SIC if still unresolved.
6. Step 6. Writ / consumer court / civil court if pertinent.

RTI is not a substitute for a grievance — it is the legal mechanism that forces the grievance to be answered.

To,
The Public Information Officer,
[Department / Ministry / Office where grievance was filed],
[Address]

Subject: Information under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, regarding my grievance / complaint dated [DD-MM-YYYY].

Sir/Madam,

I, [Full Name], citizen of India, resident of [Full Address], submit the following request for information:

Grievance Reference: [CPGRAMS ID / Complaint No.]
Date of filing: [DD-MM-YYYY]
Nature of grievance: [One-line description]
Portal used: [pgportal.gov.in / Consumer Helpline / Banking Ombudsman / NPCI / etc.]
Date on which grievance was marked "closed / disposed" (if applicable): [DD-MM-YYYY]

Please provide:

1. Current status of my grievance and the officer / desk currently holding it.

2. Certified copy of the Action Taken Report (ATR) on my grievance, in chronological order.

3. Name, designation, and office address of each officer to whom the grievance was referred, with date of each movement.

4. Specific action taken, with documentary evidence — letter / email / file note.

5. If the grievance was closed without action, the reason recorded and the approving officer's name.

6. If any notice was issued to a third party on the basis of my grievance, a certified copy of that notice.

7. Status of compensation / refund / remedy, if applicable.

8. Name and contact of the First Appellate Authority against the disposal of this grievance.

9. Average disposal time for similar grievances in this office during the past six months.

10. Grievance-redressal officer's policy / SOP that governs the handling of my case.

I enclose Indian Postal Order / Challan No. __________ dated __________ for Rs. 10.

I declare that I am an Indian citizen.

Yours faithfully,

[Full Name]
[Signature]
[Date] [Place]

Address RTI to the CPIO, Office of the Commissioner / Superintendent of Police. Ask:

1. Date of submission of my complaint at [Station Name].
2. Register entry number in the Daily Diary and the Officer who recorded it.
3. Whether the complaint was registered as FIR under Section 173 BNSS, 2023; if not, the grounds (as per Lalita Kumari v. UP, (2014) 2 SCC 1, which requires either FIR or preliminary inquiry).
4. Name of the SHO and action taken.
5. If no action, the rank-wise review status.

Address RTI to the CPIO, Reserve Bank of India, Banking Ombudsman's office of the region. Ask:

1. Assignment of my complaint to which ombudsman officer.
2. Date of hearing / representation, if any.
3. Reply received from the bank.
4. Proposed order and current stage.
5. Timeline to final award.

Address RTI to CPIO, Income Tax Department, Bangalore (CPC) OR the jurisdictional AO. Ask:

1. Refund status for AY [Year], PAN [masked].
2. Reason for withholding (demand adjustment, notice u/s 245, etc.).
3. Date of issue of intimation u/s 143(1).
4. Officer handling the case.
5. Expected refund date with UTR / cheque details.

1. Current status and officer holding file.
2. Action Taken Report.
3. File-movement trail.
4. Evidence of action.
5. Reason for closure, if closed.
6. Notice issued to third parties.
7. Compensation / remedy status.
8. First Appellate Authority.
9. Average disposal at this office.
10. Governing SOP.

• Day 0. RTI filed on appropriate portal.
• Day 7–15. Office pulls the grievance file. Internal review triggered.
• Day 30. Written reply mandatory. In many cases the underlying grievance is resolved in this window.
• Day 31+. First Appeal if reply is evasive.
• Day 60+. Second Appeal to CIC / SIC.

• Third-party information collected during investigation may be redacted under Section 8(1)(j).
• Actions that would reveal investigation methods are exempt under Section 8(1)(h).
• Cabinet / administrative notes may be exempt for 10 years under Section 8(1)(i).
• Core of your grievance — the action taken on your complaint, the officer's name — is always disclosable.

• Filing the RTI at the wrong ministry. CPGRAMS grievances are routed to many different ministries; identify the actual one handling yours.
• Asking “why didn't you do anything” — rhetorical. Ask “what did you do, with documents”.
• Missing the 30-day First Appeal window.
• Reusing the same grievance text. RTI must be a specific question, not a repeat of the grievance.

Q1. CPGRAMS shows “Resolved” but my problem is exactly as it was. Do I file RTI or re-open grievance?
File RTI. CPGRAMS “Resolved” without substance is a known abuse; RTI forces the specific action and officer name onto the record.

Q2. Can RTI force the police to register an FIR?
Not directly. But the RTI reply — showing the complaint was received and no FIR registered — is evidence before a Section 175(3) BNSS application to the Magistrate, who can then direct registration.

Q3. My complaint is to a private company (bank, insurer, OTT). Does RTI apply?
Not directly. But RTI applies to the regulator (RBI, IRDA, TRAI, MeitY) who oversees the company. Ask the regulator to disclose action taken on your forwarded complaint.

Q4. Can RTI recover money for me?
RTI does not order payment. But the information it extracts is the basis for a consumer court, ombudsman, or writ that orders payment.

Q5. How do I know which RTI portal to use?
See State RTI Portals Directory. Central ministries always on rtionline.gov.in. State departments on state portals.

1. Identify the grievance reference, the ministry, the portal.
2. Copy the universal RTI format.
3. File on the correct portal.
4. Mark Day 30.
5. Escalate via First Appeal if needed.

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Last reviewed: 24 April 2026. References verified against CPGRAMS SLAs and RTI Act, 2005 (as amended 2019) compliance directions by DoPT.