RTI fee in Jammu and Kashmir — the verified 2026 rules

For most of its history Jammu and Kashmir ran its own RTI Act — the J&K RTI Act, 2009, with its famously heavier fee. That world ended on 31 October 2019: the J&K Reorganisation Act extended the Central Right to Information Act, 2005 to the new Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh. Today one Act and one fee schedule govern both, and the UT runs a full online portal for applications, payments and first appeals.

The guidelines on rtionline.jk.gov.in state the position in one sentence: the fee for making an application is as prescribed in the fee rules, and it is presently rupees ten. The portal adds the mechanics that matter:

• Payment modes: net banking, credit or debit card, and UPI
• The application date is the payment date — the date the fee is paid counts as the date of the RTI application
• The fee is not refunded, even if the application is rejected or returned
• No fee for the first appeal, as the portal puts it, as per the RTI Act
• Additional fees for copying or inspection, where due, are intimated by the PIO, and the portal shows them under the view-status screen
• BPL applicants are exempt from the fee under the rules, consistent with Section 7(5) of the Act

On submission the portal issues a unique registration number — that number, not your bank reference, is what you quote in every later appeal.

The portal serves Government of J&K public authorities — departments, divisions, offices and district bodies — and lists them by name when you file. Three exclusions are stated on its face: it is not for the Central Government, not for other states, and applications for the J&K High Court and the legislature go through their own channels, not this portal. File such matters by post or through the High Court RTI window.

Real example. Kashvi Pathak needed the tender evaluation record of a Jal Shakti division. She filed on rtionline.jk.gov.in against the Chief Engineer PHE office named in the portal list, paid ₹10 by UPI, and received her registration number the same day. When the 30-day clock ran out silently, she filed her first appeal on the portal itself — free — and the FAA order, with the file movement, arrived within the month.

After a first-appeal order, or after 45 days of first-appeal silence, the second appeal goes to the Information Commission for J&K within 90 days. The Commission functions from J&K itself; the Central Information Commission directory of State Information Commissions carries no live Commission website for J&K, so the working public-facing anchors are the online portal above for filings and the J&K High Court RTI portal, jkhc.gov.in/rti, for court-side records. Keep postal proof of any second appeal you send.

Demand the rule and the arithmetic in writing, keep the payment receipt, and appeal within 30 days.

1. The prescribed application fee for my request no. _____ dated _____, and the rule under which any further fee of Rs _____ is demanded.
2. The item-wise calculation of the further fee, as required by Section 7(3) of the RTI Act, 2005.
3. The name and designation of the officer who computed the fee.
4. The stage on which my application stands as of this date, under the view-status record of the portal.

• Draft it in a minute: AI RTI Drafter
• First appeal builder: First Appeal Generator
• Track your deadlines: Timeline Tracker

No. The Central RTI Act, 2005 was extended to J&K and Ladakh on 31 October 2019, replacing the 2009 state Act.

₹10 an application, presently, payable online by net banking, card or UPI on rtionline.jk.gov.in.

The Central Act covers Ladakh too; the present portal is run for J&K public authorities. For Ladakh authorities, file by post to the PIO with the ₹10 fee.

No. The portal terms state the fee is not refunded once payment is acknowledged.

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

• rtionline.jk.gov.in — guidelines for use of the RTI online portal, UT of J&K
• High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh — RTI portal
• The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 and the Right to Information Act, 2005

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. Fee, payment modes and appeal rules verified against the RTI online portal of the UT of J&K, fetched this run. The old page cited a dead Commission domain, which has been removed.