PM CARES is not "Government" — what RTIs revealed — citizen guide 2026

On 28 March 2020, at the height of the first COVID-19 wave, the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund — PM CARES — was created. Within weeks, it had received thousands of crores in donations from citizens, corporations, and public sector companies. Citizens who wanted to know how this money was being spent naturally turned to the RTI Act.

What they found — through the replies and the refusals — was a structural opacity that differed significantly from India's existing disaster relief fund, the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

Multiple RTI applicants filed to the PMO, Finance Ministry, and CAG between April 2020 and 2022. Among those publicly documented:

• Commodore Lokesh Batra (retd.), a prolific RTI applicant, filed applications to the PMO and Finance Ministry seeking the trust deed, trustee composition, and audit arrangements for PM CARES.
• Samyak Gangwal, an RTI activist, filed to the PMO seeking the fund's governing documents.
• Several others filed to the CAG asking whether PM CARES was within the CAG's audit jurisdiction.

The PMO's responses and the subsequent High Court proceedings were widely reported.

RTI questions as reported in news coverage included:

1. Is PM CARES Fund a “public authority” under the RTI Act, 2005?
2. Is PM CARES Fund audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India?
3. Provide a copy of the trust deed or foundation document of PM CARES Fund.
4. What is the composition of the Board of Trustees of PM CARES Fund?
5. What is the total amount received in PM CARES Fund and the total amount disbursed as of [date]?
6. How does PM CARES Fund differ structurally from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund?

PMO: In a reply widely reported in 2020, the PMO stated that PM CARES Fund is "not a Public Authority under the RTI Act, 2005" and therefore declined to provide information. The PMO's reply stated that the fund is a “public charitable trust” registered separately and that RTI obligations do not apply to it.

CAG: The CAG, in reply to RTI applications asking about its audit jurisdiction, indicated that PM CARES Fund does not fall within its audit mandate under the CAG (DPC) Act, 1971, because it is not a government fund flowing through the Consolidated Fund of India.

Finance Ministry: Confirmed that PM CARES is not a government fund and that CSR contributions to PM CARES were made eligible under the Companies Act (Schedule VII) by government notification — which had itself been challenged in court.

The PMNRF, by contrast, is funded partly by government grants, is audited by the CAG, and the PM's secretariat provides information about it under RTI.

Delhi High Court (2020): A petition seeking to bring PM CARES under CAG audit was filed. The Delhi High Court declined to direct CAG audit, holding that PM CARES was a private charitable trust. The decision was reported widely.

Supreme Court (2020–2021): Several petitions challenged the structure of PM CARES. The Supreme Court declined to redirect PM CARES funds to the NDRF (National Disaster Response Fund), holding that the government had discretion in how it chose to mobilise funds for COVID response.

Journalism: The Wire, Scroll, The Hindu, and LiveLaw published detailed investigations into the structural difference between PM CARES and PMNRF, using the RTI responses as the documentary foundation. Factly published a comparison table of both funds' audit status, RTI applicability, and governance.

Public record established: The cumulative effect of the RTI replies and judicial proceedings was to establish — formally, on the public record — that PM CARES is not subject to CAG audit, is not a public authority under RTI, and differs structurally from PMNRF. This documentation is now cited by courts, journalists, and civil society in every comparative analysis.

What this case proves you can do:

1. RTI refusals are information. The PMO's reply that PM CARES is “not a public authority” is itself a piece of public information — it defined the legal status of the fund on the public record. The RTI route that was closed became the documented evidence of the closure.
2. Fund structure can be probed through multiple authorities. Even when the PMO says it won't answer, the Finance Ministry, CAG, and other authorities can confirm or deny related facts. Multi-authority RTI strategy builds the complete picture.
3. Journalism uses RTI as documentation, not just discovery. The RTI responses served as citable, reproducible sources for stories that could otherwise be disputed. “The PMO replied on [date] that PM CARES is not a public authority” is a quotable, verifiable fact.

• PMO RTI reply on PM CARES (2020) — reported by The Wire — thewire.in
• Scroll.in on PM CARES vs PMNRF structure — scroll.in
• Factly comparison of PM CARES and PMNRF — factly.in
• LiveLaw on Delhi HC petition — livelaw.in
• The Hindu on Supreme Court petitions — thehindu.com
• PM CARES official website — pmcares.gov.in

The PMO's position is that PM CARES is not a public authority under the RTI Act. A direct RTI to PM CARES Fund or PMO for fund details will likely be declined on this ground. However, you can file RTIs to the Finance Ministry about the CSR notification, to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs about companies' disclosures of PM CARES contributions, and to specific departments about grants received from PM CARES.

Yes. The PMNRF is managed by the Prime Minister's office and operates under government supervision. The PMO has responded to RTI applications about PMNRF with information about receipts and disbursements. The annual accounts of PMNRF are also published.

PM CARES publishes an annual audited statement of accounts on its website at pmcares.gov.in. The accounts show receipts and disbursements. The audit is by a private chartered accountant, not the CAG — which is the point of distinction the RTI applicants and courts established.

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