RTI fee in Jharkhand — the verified 2026 schedule

Jharkhand runs one of the quieter but more complete RTI pipelines in the country. The fee is set by the Jharkhand Right to Information Rules, 2015, and the state has a working payment-gateway portal run through the Administrative Reforms Department. The portal states the rule and the amount in one line: as per the Jharkhand RTI Rules, 2015, the fee for making an application is ten rupees. Everything below is anchored to that.

• Application fee — ₹10. The date the portal acknowledges your payment counts as the date of the application, so pay before the last day of any urgency.
• First appeal — free. The portal says it plainly: no fee is required for a first appeal under the RTI Act. File it online using your original registration number.
• Further charges for photocopying or inspection, if a PIO asks for them, are additional fees under the 2015 Rules. The portal itself tells the PIO to intimate such extra fee electronically or on paper. If a figure feels invented, ask for it in writing with the rule number.
• BPL exemption. Section 7(5) of the RTI Act, 2005 exempts below-poverty-line applicants from the fee. Attach proof with a paper application.

One warning from the portal terms: the ₹10 is non-refundable once the portal issues an acknowledgement, even if the application is later rejected or returned. File against the right public authority the first time. The portal explicitly returns applications meant for the Central Government, other states, the Jharkhand Assembly, the High Court and central regulators, without a refund.

rti.jharkhand.gov.in lets you pick the department and the Public Information Officer from a list, attach supporting documents, pay the ₹10 and submit. You get a unique registration number, and SMS and email alerts track the application, the first appeal and any additional fee demand. The portal also maintains a PIO and FAA directory if you prefer to file on paper.

Real example. Kashvi Pathak wanted the sanction file for a road drain in her ward in Ranchi. She filed on the portal against the Urban Development Department, paid ₹10 by UPI, and got the registration number the same evening. The reply missed the 30-day line, so she filed a free first appeal online the next morning, quoting the registration number. The FAA order arrived in three weeks with the file notings attached.

The Jharkhand State Information Commission sits at Engineers Hostel-2, HEC Campus, Dhurwa, Ranchi 834004, phone 0651-2401418, fax 0651-2401426. Its own portal, onlinejsic.jharkhand.gov.in, is where second-appeal cause lists, decisions and circulars live, and the Commission shares there that four new State Information Commissioners took oath on 1 July 2026, after which suspended appeal hearings were to resume.

For a second appeal you go to the Commission — not the portal — within 90 days of the first-appeal order or of the 45-day silence after your first appeal. Bring the application, the PIO reply, the first appeal and an index of documents.

Inflated fee demands are a standard appealable ground. Ask for the demand and its rule number in writing, keep the receipt, and move to a first appeal within 30 days.

1. The prescribed application fee for my RTI application no. _____ dated _____, and the rule under which any further fee of Rs _____ has been demanded.
2. The calculation of the further fee, item by item, as required by Section 7(3).
3. The name and designation of the officer who computed it.
4. Copies of the fee schedule notified under the Jharkhand RTI Rules, 2015.

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

₹10, under the Jharkhand RTI Rules, 2015. On the portal you pay it by net banking, card or UPI.

Yes. rti.jharkhand.gov.in takes first appeals online, using the registration number of the original application, and charges no fee.

To the Jharkhand State Information Commission in Ranchi, within 90 days of the first-appeal order or the expiry of the 45-day window.

No. The portal terms say the fee is not refunded once the portal acknowledges payment, even on rejection.

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

• rti.jharkhand.gov.in — the Jharkhand online RTI portal, which states the ₹10 fee under the Jharkhand RTI Rules, 2015
• Jharkhand State Information Commission — contacts
• The Right to Information Act, 2005, Sections 6, 7(5) and 19

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. Fee and appeal rules verified against the Jharkhand online RTI portal guidelines page and the Commission contact page, both fetched this run. The old page cited a dead Commission domain, which has been removed.