RTI replies on public-authority websites

• §4(2) of the RTI Act: where an authority can provide information suo motu (on its own), it shall do so — especially where the public has to incur costs to ask.
• DoPT O.M. No.1/6/2011-IR dated 15.4.2013: public authorities shall proactively disclose RTI applications, appeals and responses on their websites, with a keyword-search facility. Hosted order: Suo Moto Disclosure under Right to Information.
• The exception: applications/appeals/responses involving personal information of an individual may be withheld where disclosure serves no public interest.
• To ease uploading, a feature was added (2013, pilot in DoPT) to the CPIO/FAA module of the RTI Online portal to push replies onto the department website: DoPT circular. Compliance across authorities remains uneven — which is exactly why the citizen-side tactics below matter.
• The full framework: Suo Moto Disclosure under RTI.

1. **Research before filing:** search the department's site (look for an "RTI disclosures" or "RTI corner" section) for your subject — a prior reply often answers most of your queries and shows you the office's exact language and file numbers.
2. **Use a prior disclosure as precedent:** if the office disclosed X to one citizen and denies X to you, that differential treatment is a strong first-appeal ground (equal treatment under Article 14 — see [[:cases:ds-nakara-v-uoi-1983|D.S. Nakara]]).
3. **Demand the missing disclosure:** where the RTI corner is empty, ask (by RTI!) for the compliance status of the 15.4.2013 O.M. — "copies of the index of RTI replies uploaded to the website this year."
4. **Pin citations:** when you cite a prior reply in an appeal, save the URL and date accessed — websites rotate content.

The direction says so in principle, minus personal-information matters serving no public interest. Real-world compliance varies widely by department.

Yes — a disclosed reply is public material; and even where not uploaded, you can RTI for it (the reply itself is “information”), subject to legitimate §8/§11 cuts.

No — it accelerates research and arms your appeal. Your own filing fixes dates, queries and the statutory clock in your favour. ==== Where do I find these disclosures? ==⇒ Usually under “Right to Information” on the authority's website. Our portals directory links the state gateways; for the Centre, see the departments' own RTI corners.

• Suo Moto Disclosure under RTI
• Section 4 — obligations of public authorities
• D.S. Nakara — equal treatment precedent
• State RTI portals directory
• RTI Act, 2005 — full text
• The RTI Playbook book

Last reviewed on: 27 August 2026. Kept the two hosted DoPT PDFs as the source anchors; added the s.4(2) statutory basis, the citizen-side tactics for using disclosed replies, and an FAQ; headline filler removed.