CPGRAMS grievance stuck — escalate with RTI

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. Timelines and appeal rules taken from the CPGRAMS FAQ on the portal itself.

CPGRAMS, the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System, run by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, carries complaints about central ministries and departments — passport delays, pension stoppages, tax portal problems, service matters.

It is not RTI. A grievance asks the government to act; an RTI application asks for records. Used together, the grievance gets action and the RTI gets the file — which is why stuck grievances respond so well to a paired RTI.

One address note: cpgrams.gov.in no longer resolves. The working portal is pgportal.gov.in, which hosts CPGRAMS, its mobile app experience, pension grievances and status tracking.

From the CPGRAMS FAQ:

1. Redress window: 21 days, with an interim reply stating reasons if more time is needed.
2. Appeal: within 30 days of disposal, to the Nodal Grievance Officer of the ministry — the portal drives this through the mandatory feedback rating you give after disposal.
3. No reopening. A closed grievance stays closed; you lodge a fresh grievance drawing reference to the closed one.
4. State government matters must go to the state's own portals; CPGRAMS central is for central subjects.

1. Lodge on pgportal.gov.in under “Lodge Public Grievance” — or “Lodge Pension Grievance” for pension matters. Save the registration number.
2. Track under “View Status”; add reminders and clarifications there rather than by email.
3. Rate the disposal honestly. “Unsatisfactory” is the trigger the system uses to route your appeal to the nodal officer within 30 days.
4. Closed without a fix? Fresh grievance referencing the old number — and simultaneously the RTI below.

To, The Public Information Officer,
[Ministry / Department concerned]

Under §6(1) RTI Act 2005, please provide:
1. Action-taken report on CPGRAMS grievance no. _____ dated _____.
2. Reasons recorded for its closure, with copies of the file noting.
3. Name and designation of the officer who disposed of the grievance.
4. The citizen charter timeline applicable to this grievance type and my case's compliance with it.
5. Date-wise movement of the grievance file from receipt to closure.

₹10 IPO enclosed.

File the RTI with the same ministry that owns the grievance — not with DARPG, which runs the software but not the files. A grievance wrongly sent to the wrong ministry is among the most common closure reasons, and the RTI reply will show exactly where it got misrouted.

• Day 1–21: grievance with the ministry; reminder on the portal at day 10 if silent.
• Within 30 days of disposal: appeal through the portal's feedback route to the nodal officer.
• Any time: RTI for the record — 30-day statutory clock of its own under §7(1).
• RTI ignored or refused: first appeal within 30 days; second appeal to the Central Information Commission within 90 days.

Real example. Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak's pension fixation grievance was “resolved” in four days with a one-line reply that resolved nothing. He rated it unsatisfactory, filed the fresh grievance, and sent a ₹10 RTI asking for the closure noting. The reply attached a page of file notings showing the fixation order had been signed but never dispatched — and a copy reached him with the RTI reply itself.

21 days for redress, per the portal's FAQ, with an interim reply required if it will take longer.

No. The portal's FAQ says file a fresh grievance referencing the closed one, and use the appeal route within 30 days of disposal.

That domain is gone; the live portal is pgportal.gov.in.

No — to the ministry that owns the grievance. DARPG runs CPGRAMS but holds no departmental files.

The portal offers higher-tier escalation for persistent cases, but the same file answers apply — the RTI record is what forces a written, accountable reply.

• CPGRAMS on pgportal.gov.in — redress process, FAQs, appeal route
• RTI Act 2005, §6, §7(1), §19

• File RTI online — 12 steps
• RTI — 25 questions answered
• AI RTI Drafter — auto-fills PIO details
• The RTI Playbook