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Right to Information Act, 2005 — India's Working Reference
The Right to Information Act, 2005 lets any citizen of India demand records, files, contracts and decisions from every public authority within 30 days for a Rs 10 fee. RTI Wiki is the complete 2026 reference — the full Act with 2019 and DPDP 2025 amendments, 362+ landmark rulings, State-wise filing guides, and ready templates for RTI applications and appeals.
🚀 Brand new on RTI Wiki — built April 2026:
- 🌐 Citizen 360 — One PIN code → full civic profile (hospitals, schools, police, banks, AQI), 3 AI-drafted Master RTIs, live map, comparison vs benchmarks. The flagship.
- 📍 RTI by State — Pick your state → SIC, fee, language, case-law from your jurisdiction, scheme templates, online portal. All 28 states + 8 UTs.
- 🏆 Success Stories — Real RTI wins from citizens. Filter by state + scheme. Submit your own.
- 📞 PIO Directory — Verified office addresses for DM, RPO, RPFC, RTO, ULB, UIDAI across major cities.
- 📊 SIC Report Cards — All 29 commissions graded A-F on disposal, pendency, §20 penalty rate.
- 📈 RTI by State — data analysis — What each state actually asks about, from our 408-case curated database. Honest data only.
- 40 new citizen guides — PMAY · EPF · ration card · NSP · driving licence · MGNREGA · marriage cert · income cert · OCI · PMVVY and 30 more. Browse the citizen-RTI library →
🆕 Just shipped (April 2026) — two flagship pillars + 15 deep-dives:
- 🎓 Sarkari Exam RTI Survival Kit — complete playbook for UPSC, SSC, IBPS, RRB, CBSE, State PSC, police & railway aspirants. Aditya Bandopadhyay (SC 2011) · 48-hour urgency clause · 5 scenario deep-dives (results · admit cards · CBSE · scholarships · police/railway/state board).
State RTI Portal Rankings 2026. Every State portal scored out of 50 on 10 citizen-facing criteria. Kerala leads at 45/50. See the full ranking, fees by state, and the reliability-grade directory.
🎓 New — Free certified CPD course on the RTI Act, 2005. India's first case-law-anchored online training for Public Information Officers, First Appellate Authorities, and serious RTI practitioners. 12 modules · 30 CPD hours · 200+ case citations. Launch promotional offer — completely free, no sign-up wall. Read more · Start Module 1 →
⏰ RTI Timeline Calculator. Enter your RTI filing date — get every statutory deadline under the RTI Act, 2005: the 30-day PIO reply, the 30-day First Appeal, the 90-day Second Appeal — with calendar dates, status pills (on-track / due-soon / overdue), and print-ready output. Open the calculator →
📰 New — Weekly RTI News · CIC / SIC / Ministry PIO Directory · Ministry Transparency Ranking 2026. Fresh each Monday; all contacts verified; all ministries scored.
🤖 RTI Assistant — All in one. Research any RTI question, draft your application, analyse and prepare First & Second Appeals — with a complete letter ready to file. Open the RTI Assistant →
⚖️ Case-law search. Filter 362+ landmark RTI rulings — Supreme Court, every major High Court, CIC and 10 State Information Commissions — by Act section, court, outcome or year. Each entry carries an editorial ratio, citation, and precedent graph. Open the search tool → · About the database
Start here
- File RTI Online in India — 12-step 2026 guide — complete walk-through of rtionline.gov.in with English and Hindi templates, Rs 10 fee, and the appeal path.
- RTI for personal problems — passport delay, pension stopped, FIR refused, scholarship not credited. Real templates, real timelines.
- Why RTI gets rejected (and 6 fixes) — the drafting mistakes that cause rejection and the exact wording that defeats each.
- 20 RTI questions you can ask the government — with copy-paste wording for each.
- Use AI to draft rejection-proof RTIs — 7 tested prompts for Claude and ChatGPT.
Core resources
- The RTI Act, 2005 (as amended) — full text with 2019 and 14 November 2025 amendment overlays at the affected sections.
- RTI Rules — Central, Supreme Court, High Court, State, Union Territory, and DPDP Rules 2025.
- Fees by State and Online Portal Directory (2026) — direct filing links for every state.
- Templates — eight ready-to-use drafts: first RTI, first appeal, second appeal, PIO reply (three formats), third-party notice, FAA speaking order.
- Case law library — 22 landmark Supreme Court rulings plus High Court and CIC orders, indexed by section.
- 25 RTI questions answered — covering fees, appeals, exemptions, DPDP.
- Track your CIC appeal with AI — 7 prompts that cut admin time 80 percent.
- Editorial blog — practitioner notes on legislative changes, major judgments, and Commission orders.
Role-based guides
Key decisions at a glance
- CBSE v. Aditya Bandopadhyay, (2011) 8 SCC 497 — scope of “information” under Section 2(f).
- Thalappalam Coop Bank v. Kerala, (2013) 16 SCC 82 — “public authority” test under Section 2(h).
- Girish Deshpande v. CIC, (2013) 1 SCC 212 — Section 8(1)(j), read against the 2025 amendment.
- K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, (2017) 10 SCC 1 — privacy as a fundamental right.
- ADR v. UoI (Electoral Bonds), 2024 — Article 19(1)(a) right to know political funding.
Recent editorial
For the full archive, see the editorial blog.
Sources
- The Right to Information Act, 2005 (No. 22 of 2005).
- The Right to Information (Amendment) Act, 2019 (No. 24 of 2019).
- The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (No. 22 of 2023), Section 44(3).
- The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, notified 14 November 2025.
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