RTI fees by state — the verified index (2026)

This index carries one page per state, each built from that state's own material — the fee rules, the SIC website, the gazette notification or the state portal. Fee claims on this site are checked against those sources before they are published, and the settled numbers below are shared across every fee page so the chart and the pages cannot drift apart.

• Central Government: ₹10 application, ₹2 a page, first inspection hour free then ₹5 an hour, appeals free — the Right to Information Rules, 2012
• Uttar Pradesh: ₹10 application, ₹2 a page — but inspection costs ₹10 for the first hour, then ₹5 per fifteen minutes, under the UP RTI Rules, 2015; second appeals online only since 17 June 2026
• Assam: ₹10, ₹2 a page, inspection ₹5 per fifteen minutes after a free first hour, first appeals free — 2005 Rules, with online filing on rtionline.assam.gov.in
• Uttarakhand: ₹10 application — cash, draft, IPO or ₹10 stamp paper — appeals free, online filing at rtionline.uk.gov.in
• Maharashtra: ₹10 application after the 7 July 2026 rollback of the June hike; ₹20 first appeal and ₹20 second appeal
• Bihar: ₹10 application, ₹10 per appeal (GAD notification of 8 May 2012), ₹50 floppy or CD
• Gujarat: ₹20 application — the highest mainstream state fee
• Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Delhi: ₹10 application, appeals free — each verified against state primary sources
• BPL applicants: no fee in any state — Section 7(5) of the RTI Act binds every state; attach the certificate

Appeal fees are where states genuinely differ: free almost everywhere, ₹10 each in Bihar, ₹20 each in Maharashtra. If your matter is heading to a second appeal, open the state page first and check the appeal column before you attach payment — or before you let anyone collect one.

• Central Government
• Andhra Pradesh
• Arunachal Pradesh
• Assam
• Bihar
• Chhattisgarh
• Delhi
• Goa
• Gujarat
• Haryana
• Himachal Pradesh
• Jammu and Kashmir
• Jharkhand
• Karnataka
• Kerala
• Madhya Pradesh
• Maharashtra
• Manipur
• Meghalaya
• Mizoram
• Nagaland
• Odisha
• Punjab
• Rajasthan
• Sikkim
• Tamil Nadu
• Telangana
• Tripura
• Uttar Pradesh
• Uttarakhand
• West Bengal

• Start with the fee page of the state you are filing in — the authority's character, state or Central, decides the schedule, not your address
• Carry the payment the page prescribes — a ₹10 IPO in the name the page names; a DD where the state demands one; the portal where the state runs one
• Watch the appeal column — a state that charges for appeals wants the fee in the prescribed mode at filing, and the Commission's registry will not entertain an appeal short by ₹10
• BPL is a certificate question, not a debate — attach the copy, cite Section 7(5), and decline any demand politely in writing
• When a figure changes, the page changes with it — every fee page carries its Last reviewed date, and the settled numbers above are the ones the site's own chart and calculator carry

The application fee is ₹10 in Central Government and most states; Gujarat charges ₹20. Copy, inspection and appeal charges vary — that is exactly what the state pages record.

No. Section 7(5) of the RTI Act exempts below-poverty-line applicants from every fee, in every state. Attach the certificate with the application.

In most states, yes. Bihar charges ₹10 per appeal and Maharashtra ₹20 per appeal — both verified against state notifications. Check your state page before paying an appeal fee to anyone.

The same statutory fee; only the payment mode changes. Central filing is on rtionline.gov.in, and several states run their own portals — the directory of portals is on the state-wise fee chart.

• State-wise fee chart and portal directory
• RTI Fee Calculator — free tool
• How to file RTI online — the 12-step guide
• The RTI Playbook book

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. The comparison bullets carry only figures verified against primary sources during this run; the earlier claim that appeals are always free was wrong — Bihar and Maharashtra charge — and has been corrected.