Table of Contents

Kerala RTI rules — 2026 citizen guide

Kerala applies three sets of state-specific RTI rules made under §27 of the central RTI Act, 2005: the Kerala Right to Information (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2006 for fees, the Kerala State Information Commission (Procedure for Appeal) Rules, 2006 for second appeals, and the Kerala High Court Right to Information Rules, 2006 for RTI to the High Court itself. Application fee is ₹10 (BPL: zero). Reply deadline 30 days under §7(1) of the central Act.

Quick fee schedule

Stage Fee Mode
Application (§6) ₹10 IPO / court-fee / DD / online
Per A4 photocopy ₹2 paid on collection
Larger size copy actual cost paid on collection
CD / pen-drive ₹50 per CD paid on collection
Inspection of records free for first hour, ₹5 per 15 min after pay at office
BPL applicant Zero attach BPL certificate
First Appeal Zero -
Second Appeal to Kerala SIC Zero -

Statutory framework

Where to file

Sample RTI letter for Kerala

Use our AI RTI Drafter — auto-fills the Kerala fee paragraph and supports Malayalam/English bilingual format.

For state-specific scenarios:

Common mistakes filing in Kerala

Kerala SIC — state of pendency

Kerala SIC has historically been one of the best-disposing SICs in India — average second-appeal disposal in 5-9 months. Vacancy rate has stayed low (1-2 ICs) since 2020. The Kerala SIC also pioneered live-streaming of hearings on YouTube since 2022.

Citations and sources

Last reviewed: 4 May 2026.