Tamil Nadu RTI rules — fees, postal filing and appeals

A reference note on the working of the Right to Information Act, 2005 in Tamil Nadu. Fee, appeal-fee and portal status verified against state sources on 26 August 2026; for a live matter, confirm against the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette or the Commission's website.

The Tamil Nadu Information Commission (TNSIC) is constituted under Section 15 of the RTI Act, 2005, seated at Chennai. It hears second appeals under Section 19(3) and complaints under Section 18 against State public authorities. The Commission's public guidance is explicit: no fee is payable for appeals or complaints before it.

• The Tamil Nadu Right to Information (Fees) Rules, 2005 — application fees and copying charges under Section 27.
• The Tamil Nadu Information Commission (Appeal Procedure) Rules — procedure before the Commission.
• Language: applications may be filed in Tamil or English (§6(1) read with Article 350).

Payment on paper: Indian Postal Order, demand draft, court-fee stamps in some districts, or cash against receipt.

• By post (the reliable route now): to the PIO of the concerned department — Revenue, Home, Rural Development, Public Works, Education — with the ₹10 fee by IPO. Speed Post with the POD preserved is the cleanest proof of the filing date.
• The departmental first appeal also files on paper with the same office, free.
• Central offices in TN (Income Tax, Railways, Posts): file at rtionline.gov.in — unaffected by the state portal.
• The state RTI reference pages: tn.gov.in RTI Act & Rules and the TNSIC guidelines.
• Step-by-step: How to File RTI Online in India.

Not Tamil Nadu's fees — the date belongs to the DPDP Rules, 2025 being notified, which switched on the DPDP Act's amendment of the central RTI Act: Section 8(1)(j) (personal-information exemption) was substituted with a higher disclosure threshold. Every RTI request pending on or filed after that date — including to Tamil Nadu public authorities — is decided under the substituted clause. Practical effect for TN applicants: personal-information refusals now lean on the new wording; wider-public-interest arguments matter more than before. Fee, language and appeal procedure in Tamil Nadu are unchanged.

• Reply due in 30 days (48 hours for life-and-liberty matters) — postal filing dates count from delivery to the PIO.
• First appeal — free, to the department's First Appellate Officer.
• Second appeal — to the TNSIC within 90 days of the FAA order; §18 complaints for refusal-to-accept or illegal fee demands.
• Drafting help: First Appeal Generator.

For State authorities the portal has been down (July 2026 status) — postal is the working route; central offices in TN are unaffected (rtionline.gov.in).

No. The TNSIC's guidance says no fee for appeals or complaints before the Commission.

Yes; Tamil is expressly lawful under §6(1). Refusal to accept a Tamil application is appealable.

No — it changed the central Act's personal-information exemption. TN's ₹10 fee and free appeals stand.

• RTI Rules — Central, State, and Commission rules
• RTI fees in every state
• The RTI Act, 2005 — current text (with 2019 and DPDP amendments)
• How to File RTI Online in India
• Why RTI Applications Get Rejected
• Guide for applicants
• The RTI Playbook book

1. The Right to Information Act, 2005 (No. 22 of 2005), Sections 6, 7, 15, 18, 19, 27; §7(5); §8(1)(j) as substituted by the DPDP Act, 2023 (operative with the DPDP Rules, 2025 notified 14 November 2025).
2. The Tamil Nadu Right to Information (Fees) Rules, 2005; TN Information Commission (Appeal Procedure) Rules.
3. TNSIC public guidelines (appeal-fee position); fee and portal status cross-checked 26 August 2026.

Last reviewed: 27 August 2026. Fee firmed to Rs 10; TNSIC appeal-free position cited to the Commission's guidance; the headline's 14-Nov-2025 promise finally delivered as the DPDP-driven s.8(1)(j) substitution section; postal-first filing while the portal is down.