RTI fee in Himachal Pradesh — the verified 2026 schedule

Himachal Pradesh is one of the states whose real fee schedule almost nobody quotes correctly, because it is nothing like the Central schedule. The governing text is the Himachal Pradesh Right to Information Rules, 2006, amended five times up to 2012, and the State Information Commission hosts the full rule text on its website. Read rule 5 before you file, because the numbers surprise people.

Rule 5(1) of the 2006 Rules prescribes:

• ₹10 with the application — item 1
• Priced publications at their printed price — item 2
• Other information: ₹10 per page for A-4 size or smaller, and actual cost with a minimum of ₹20 per page for larger paper — item 3
• Information in electronic form: ₹50 per floppy and ₹100 per CD — item 4
• Inspection of records: ₹10 per 15 minutes or fraction thereof — item 5, with no free first hour
• Postal charges at actual India Post rates — inserted by the 5th Amendment, 23 May 2012 — item 6

Every page supplied must be authenticated and signed by the PIO, with your BPL status noted where relevant. The 6th Amendment of 31 July 2012 added that appellants must be present on the hearing date fixed by the appellate authority, or the matter can be decided ex parte — a reason to watch your dates once you appeal.

Rule 5(3) is the part that trips people up: fees and charges are to be deposited in a Government Treasury under the head of account 0070-OAS, 60-OS, 800-OR, 11 — Receipt head under the Right to Information Act, 2005. The application goes to the PIO in Form A, and rule 3 says an application is accepted only if it is accompanied by a challan in support of the fee. Cash-across-the-counter and Indian Postal Orders are not what the rules prescribe here, so demand the challan route at the treasury or the e-challan facility rather than arguing at the counter.

Real example. Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak asked a Kangra office for 40 pages of a pension file and was quoted ₹2 a page. He had read rule 5 — the correct charge is ₹10 a page in Himachal, ₹400 for the set — and pointed out in his first appeal that the office had quoted him the Central fee schedule, which does not apply to state public authorities. The FAA directed supply on payment of the HP schedule, with the calculation in writing.

Rule 5(1) opens with the exemption: the schedule does not apply to persons below the poverty line as determined by the State Government, so no application or copy fee is due from them. The 2006 Rules prescribe no fee for a first appeal under Section 19(1) or for a second appeal to the Commission. The appeal memorandum — rule 6 — needs the parties, the order appealed against, the facts, and a prayer, with self-attested copies of the orders and an index.

The State Information Commission, Himachal Pradesh publishes its decisions, cause lists, forms and the full 2006 Rules with every amendment at sic.hp.gov.in. The Secretary of the Commission can be reached at [email protected], the address published on the site for discrepancies.

The usual error is quoting the Central ₹2-a-page rule, or promising a free first inspection hour that the HP rules do not contain. Ask for the demand and the rule number in writing, keep the challan receipt, and appeal within 30 days.

1. The fee schedule applied to my application no. _____ dated _____, with the rule number of each charge.
2. The calculation of Rs _____ demanded, item by item, under Section 7(3).
3. The name and designation of the officer who computed the fee.
4. The challan head under which my original application fee was deposited.

• Draft it in a minute: AI RTI Drafter
• First appeal builder: First Appeal Generator
• Check the arithmetic: RTI fee calculator

No. Rule 5 charges ₹10 for every 15 minutes or fraction from the start. The free first hour is the Central rule, not the HP rule.

No. The HP RTI Rules, 2006 prescribe ₹10 a page for A-4 or smaller, and actual cost with a ₹20-a-page minimum for larger paper.

The rules prescribe deposit in a Government Treasury under the 0070-OAS receipt head, with the challan attached to the Form A application. That is the route to insist on.

The 2006 Rules prescribe no fee for first or second appeals.

• RTI fees in all states — index
• State-wise fee chart and portal directory
• How to file RTI online — the 12-step guide
• The RTI Playbook book

• Himachal Pradesh Right to Information Rules, 2006 — full text with all six amendments, hosted by the State Information Commission
• State Information Commission, Himachal Pradesh

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. Every figure verified against the rule text published by the Commission — the old page carried a Rs 2-a-page copy rate and a free first inspection hour that do not exist in the HP rules, and both have been corrected.