RTI fee in West Bengal — 2026 schedule

• Application fee: Rs 10 per application under the West Bengal RTI rules (the Commission's current rule set includes the WB RTI Rules alongside the central RTI Rules, 2019 references on its site).
• GRIPS — the Government Receipt Portal System is the state's official channel for RTI fee payment; the Commission publishes a dedicated GRIPS procedure note.
• Paper route — Rs 10 by Indian Postal Order or demand draft favouring the office's accounts officer, or cash against a receipt at the counter.
• BPL applicants: Rs 0 — statutory under §7(5); attach the card copy.
• First appeal: Rs 0. Second appeal: Rs 0.

If an office asks for “Rs 50 processing” or a “file search fee”, that is not in any schedule — ask for the notification in writing.

Beyond the Rs 10, a PIO may intimate an additional fee in writing only for reproduction costs:

• Photocopies at the scheduled per-page rate, with the rate and page count shown.
• A fixed charge for a CD or pen drive.
• Inspection — first hour free, then an hourly rate.
• Electronic records can be emailed at no extra cost — request email delivery first.

Thirty days are allowed to pay the additional fee. If the PIO's own delay pushes the reply past the statutory limit, §7(6) makes the information free.

• State offices — the PIO of the specific Kolkata headquarters department, district office, municipality, panchayat or state PSU holding the record.
• Kolkata Municipal Corporation, police, transport — each has designated PIOs; address the exact office.
• Wrong office — §6(3) transfer to the correct PIO within 5 days, at no extra fee.
• Language — Bengali, English or Hindi; §6(1) covers the official language of your area.
• Central offices in Bengal — file at rtionline.gov.in under the central Rs 10 fee.

• Website: wbic.wb.gov.in — the Commission's official site (the old wbsic.gov.in address no longer resolves; update any bookmark).
• Address: 11A Mirza Ghalib Street, Khadya Bhawan, Kolkata 700087.
• Phone: (033) 2252-0509 / 2252-0501. Email: [email protected].
• Online appeals: the Commission runs AppCoMS, its appeals-and-complaints system, linked from the site — registration number in hand, you can file and track the second appeal online.
• Timing: second appeal within 90 days of the FAA order or deadline — §19(3).

1. Get the rule and amount in writing; GRIPS receipts and challans make overcharging easy to prove.
2. BPL? §7(5) ends the discussion — see the first appeal guide for the format.
3. No reply in 30 days → free first appeal to the same office's FAA within 30 days of that expiry.
4. FAA fails → free second appeal to the WBIC, requesting §20 penalty proceedings (Rs 250 per day of delay, up to Rs 25,000) against the PIO.

• GRIPS reference number for online payment — the challan reference is the proof the FAA will ask for.
• IPO number with the counterfoil — note the number and date in the application itself before posting.
• Stamped cash receipt — never hand cash without one; an unstamped payment is legally no payment.

When an office says “fee not received”, the answer is a first appeal attaching exactly these, plus a request that the PIO produce the office's own fee register entry for your date. Fee disputes end there.

Plain paper with the Rs 10 fee is valid. For structure, use the valid RTI format checklist.

It is the state's payment portal for government receipts including RTI fees. Online payment runs through it; postal applications with an IPO remain perfectly valid.

No. In West Bengal both appeals are free. That is true in most of India, but not all - Maharashtra charges Rs 20 per appeal and Bihar Rs 10 under their own notified rules.

No — panchayats are public authorities. Refusal to accept is itself complaint-worthy before the Commission under §18(1).

The 30-day reply clock runs from the date your application with the fee reaches the PIO — which is why payment proof matters as much as the questions. An application that arrives without a valid Rs 10 or BPL proof is “incomplete”, and the office will say the clock never started. Date your application, note the IPO or GRIPS reference in its text, and post it to the office that holds the record — your own paperwork is what converts the fee into an enforceable deadline.

• RTI fees in every Indian state
• Valid RTI application format
• First appeal — complete guide
• All state RTI portals
• The RTI Playbook

Last reviewed: 27 August 2026.