RTI fee in Tamil Nadu — the verified 2026 schedule

The Tamil Nadu State Information Commission publishes a one-page fee summary on its website, sourced from the Tamil Nadu Right to Information (Fees) Rules, 2005. Every number below is that sheet, rule by rule.

• Application fee, Rule 3(a): ₹10 — cash, postal money order, court fee stamp, demand draft or banker's cheque
• Photocopies, Rule 3(b)(i): ₹2 per page of A4 or A3 paper
• Larger paper, 3(b)(ii): actual charge or cost price of the copy
• Samples or models, 3(b)(iii): actual cost or price
• Inspection of records, 3(b)(iv): no fee for the first one hour, then ₹5 per hour or fraction thereof
• Diskette or floppy, Rule 3©(i): ₹50
• Priced publications, 3©(ii): the fixed price, or ₹2 per photocopied page for extracts

No fee is prescribed for first or second appeals — an appeal in Tamil Nadu travels free.

Tamil Nadu is unusual: two public authorities carved out their own fee rules, and both are published alongside the main schedule on the Commission's site.

• Madras High Court — the Madras High Court Right to Information (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2007: ₹10 application (cash, court fee stamp, treasury challan, demand draft or postal order), ₹100 for copies of records other than orders, decrees and judgments on the judicial side, and ₹50 per diskette or floppy. Judicial-side orders, decrees and judgments are not issued under the RTI Act at all — they follow the High Court's own certified-copy procedure under its Rules of Practice.
• Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Secretariat — its own 2006 fees rules, again with a ₹10 application.
• Everything else — departments, local bodies, universities, PSUs — follows the 2005 schedule above.

If your application concerns a court record, expect the court's counter and its rates, not the ₹2 page.

Section 7(5) of the RTI Act voids every fee for a below-poverty-line applicant.

• Attach a self-attested copy of the BPL card or certificate
• Cite §7(5) in the application
• The ₹10 and any further charges are both barred

• By post or in person: to the PIO of the concerned public authority, with the ₹10 as cash against receipt, postal money order, court fee stamp, demand draft or banker's cheque
• Central offices in Tamil Nadu — income tax, railways, passport — file on rtionline.gov.in under the central ₹10
• The Commission: tnsic.gov.in — rules, formats, government orders and the Commission's appeal-procedure rules
• Appeals: first appeal to the department's FAA; second appeal to the Commission, following its appeal procedure rules

Real example. Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak asked a Chennai municipal office for a 12-page building file and was quoted ₹500. He filed the same request with a ₹10 court fee stamp, cited Rule 3(b)(i), and received the pages at ₹2 each — ₹24. The quoted ₹500 had no rule behind it.

Any demand above the schedule — minimum fees, file-opening charges, staff time — is not in the rules. Ask for the demand and its rule number in writing, keep the receipt, and move to a first appeal within 30 days.

• AI RTI Drafter: Auto-fill PIO + Act sections
• First appeal builder: First Appeal Generator
• TNSIC contacts: Tamil Nadu SIC — contacts and jurisdiction

₹10, payable in cash, postal money order, court fee stamp, demand draft or banker's cheque.

No. Neither the first appeal nor the second appeal carries a fee under the 2005 Rules.

The High Court's own 2007 rules — ₹10 application and ₹100 for non-judicial-side copies. Judicial-side copies come only through the certified-copy procedure, not RTI.

State filing is by post or in person to the PIO; central public authorities in the state accept rtionline.gov.in filings. Track the Commission's site for new services.

• RTI fees in all states
• State-wise fee chart
• Tamil Nadu RTI form — format and filing
• Tamil Nadu SIC contacts
• The RTI Playbook

• TNSIC — Fees to be paid under RTI in Tamil Nadu, official summary
• Tamil Nadu Right to Information (Fees) Rules, 2005

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. Every figure verified against the fee summary published by the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission.