How to file RTI in Jharkhand (2026)

Short version. Jharkhand is one of the states where the whole RTI life-cycle — application, fee, and first appeal — runs on a state portal, so you never need a stamp or a post office. The law underneath is the same everywhere: Section 6(1), RTI Act 2005, a ₹10 fee, a 30-day reply, and a two-tier appeal ladder that ends at the State Information Commission in Ranchi.

1. Online (recommended). Go to rti.jharkhand.gov.in, pick the department and PIO, type or paste your application, pay the ₹10 by net banking / debit / credit card, and download the registration number. First appeals against that application are filed on the same portal.
2. By post. Address To, The PIO, [office address], [department], with the fee as an IPO or demand draft/banker's cheque payable as the state prescribes. Keep a photocopy and the IPO counterfoil.
3. In person. Hand it in at the office and pay cash against a receipt — the receipt is your proof; do not leave the fee unrecorded.
4. Central-government offices inside Jharkhand (Income Tax, Railways, posts, banks' central offices) go through rtionline.gov.in instead — the state portal is for state public authorities.

1. Day 0 → Day 30 — PIO must reply (Section 7(1)). No reply = deemed refusal.
2. Day 31 → Day 60 — First Appeal to the department's First Appellate Authority; on the portal it is one click against your registration number. Deadline detail: First Appeal timelines and the FAA appellate-review checklist.
3. Day 75 → Day 165 — Second Appeal to the Jharkhand State Information Commission — by post to the address below or as the Commission prescribes on its site.

• Address: Engineers Hostel No.-2, HEC Campus, Near Golchakkar, Dhurwa, Ranchi — 834004, Jharkhand
• Website: onlinejsic.jharkhand.gov.in (the Commission's own site; the old jsic.jharkhand.gov.in domain no longer resolves)
• Phone: 0651-2401418 (SCIC's office), 0651-2401426 (Commission office)
• The Commission's Section 4(1)(b) disclosures on its site list the SCIC and Information Commissioners with rooms — useful when your second appeal needs a name on the envelope.

To, The Public Information Officer,
[Department / Office], Government of Jharkhand, [Address]

Subject: Application under Section 6(1), Right to Information Act 2005

Sir/Madam, please provide the following information:

1. [Record 1 — e.g., "the last audit report of ___", with year]
2. [Record 2 — file notings on my application no. ___, dated ___]
3. [Record 3 — the sanctioned list of ___ as on DD-MM-YYYY]

I am enclosing the application fee of ₹10 by [IPO no. ___ / DD no. ___ /
paid online, registration no. ___]. Please supply the information within
30 days as required by Section 7(1) of the Act. [BPL card enclosed, if so.]

[Name + full address + phone + date + signature]

Write the application in Hindi or English or the official language of the area — in Jharkhand, Hindi filings are routine and replies come in Hindi; that is fine, keep the reply.

• PESA and Scheduled Areas cover much of the state; gram sabha consent records and FRA claims route through the Sub-Divisional Level Committee / District Level Committee, and file notings on claim rejections are ordinary RTI-able records.
• Mining is the state's RTI heartland — DMF (District Mineral Foundation) fund utilisation, mine lease renewals and compensations sit with the Department of Mines and Geology and district administrations; ask for the DMF trustees' minutes and utilisation certificates.
• Land records (mutation and jamabandi records) — ask the Circle Officer for the mutation register entries and notings, not “why was my mutation rejected”.
• Hindi is the working language of most district offices; a bilingual application hurts nothing.

• Filing at a generic grievance portal instead of the PIO of the concerned department — a JAP-1 grievance is not an RTI.
• Asking “why” questions. Ask for records, not answers — see the records-not-answers drafting guide.
• Paying the ₹10 offline without keeping proof (IPO counterfoil, DD copy, cash receipt).
• Missing the application identifier (case number, khatiyan number, scheme ID) that lets the PIO locate the file.
• Skipping the first appeal and jumping straight to the Commission — the SIC can send you back.

• Mining district-fund records — Jharkhand SIC — DMF fund utilisation and project approvals: §4(1)(b) proactive disclosure.
• PDS scheme records — Jharkhand HC — PDS beneficiary lists + FPS records: §4(1)(b)(xii) proactive disclosure required.

Browse the full case-law database — 362 curated rulings and filter by court / section / keyword.

Ravi's father's mutation application in a Santhal Parga­na district sat two years with no order. An RTI to the Circle Officer asked for three records: the mutation register entry, the notings on the file, and the name/designation of the officer holding it. In 26 days came the reply — the file had been cleared eight months earlier and simply never communicated. The order was collected the same week. The RTI did not argue the case; it made the paper trail visible.

No — central public authorities (Income Tax, Railways, Posts, central PSUs) go on rtionline.gov.in; the state portal serves state departments, districts, police, boards and universities.

Use the postal route the same day — an IPO costs ₹10 and the postal application is equally valid; the deadline clock runs from delivery either way.

No. The Commission takes plain-language appeals; your registration numbers, dates and the PIO's reply (or the silence) are the whole case.

No — either official language works; the PIO replies in the language of the application unless you ask otherwise.

• How to file RTI online — national guide
• RTI fees state by state
• Why RTI gets rejected
• Ask for records, not answers
• Grounds for RTI rejection
• Sample RTI applications
• RTI FAQ — 25 most-asked questions
• The RTI Playbook book

• Right to Information Act, 2005 (as amended 2019, 2023)
• Jharkhand Right to Information Rules, 2015 — fee schedule as carried on the state portal
• Government of Jharkhand RTI portal — filing and appeal guidelines
• Jharkhand State Information Commission — address and disclosures
• Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 — §44(3), amending RTI §8(1)(j)

Last reviewed: 27 August 2026. The state portal (fee “Rupees ten” under the Jharkhand RTI Rules, 2015; first-appeal flow) and the Commission's site (Engineers Hostel No.-2, HEC Campus, Dhurwa, Ranchi-834004; phones) both fetched live today; the old page's Doranda-834002 address, Rules-2010 year and dead jsic.jharkhand.gov.in link corrected.