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—helplines:sic-maharashtra [2026/08/25 21:51] (current) – created - external edit 127.0.0.1
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 +{{htmlmetatags>metatag-title=(Maharashtra SIC 2026 — contacts and new RTI rules)&metatag-description=(Maharashtra SIC 2026: phone 022-22856078, 13th floor New Administrative Building Mantralaya. New 2026 rules: ₹10 application, ₹20 first appeal, ₹20 second appeal.)&metatag-keywords=(maharashtra sic, msic contact, maharashtra rti rules 2026, maharashtra second appeal, mumbai rti commission)}}
 +
 +====== Maharashtra SIC 2026 — contacts and new RTI rules ======
 +
 +{{:social:auto:helpline-sic-maharashtra.png?direct&1200 |Maharashtra SIC 2026 — contacts and new RTI rules}}
 +
 +<WRAP center round info 95%>
 +**Quick Reply:** The Maharashtra State Information Commission sits on the **13th floor, New Administrative Building, Mantralaya, Mumbai 400032** — office line **022-22856078**. Maharashtra has new RTI rules from July 2026: **₹10** application fee, but a **₹20 fee for the first appeal and ₹20 for the second appeal**. Applications must also stick to one subject, within about 150 words.
 +</WRAP>
 +
 +//Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. Contacts verified on the commission's own site; fees read from the Maharashtra Right to Information Rules 2026 notified in the Gazette on 7 July 2026.//
 +
 +===== Verified contacts =====
 +
 +  * **Address:** State Information Commission, 13th Floor, New Administrative Building, Mantralaya, Mumbai - 400032
 +  * **Phone:** 022-22856078
 +  * **Email:** [email protected]
 +  * **Website:** [[https://sic.maharashtra.gov.in|sic.maharashtra.gov.in]]
 +  * **Benches:** Mumbai headquarters plus regional benches — Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Nashik, Amravati, Konkan and Brihanmumbai
 +
 +The phone number and email on several older pages — 022-22833434 and [email protected] — no longer match the commission's own contact listing, so treat them as **not working as of August 2026** and use the verified set above.
 +
 +===== The Maharashtra RTI Rules 2026 — what changed =====
 +
 +Notified on **7 July 2026** (GAD/12020/4/2025-GAD-DESK-6, superseding the June 2026 version and the older 2005 rules), the new rules reshape both fees and form:
 +
 +^ Item ^ Under the 2026 rules ^
 +| Application fee | ₹10 — cash, demand draft, banker's cheque, or a ₹10 court fee stamp |
 +| First appeal fee | **₹20** — same payment modes |
 +| Second appeal fee to the commission | **₹20** — payable to the commission |
 +| Photocopy A4 or A3 | ₹2 per page plus postal charges |
 +| Inspection | First hour free, then ₹5 for each 15 minutes or part |
 +| Diskette or floppy | ₹50 plus postal charges |
 +| Application length | One subject matter per application, ordinarily within 150 words |
 +
 +Two practical consequences:
 +
 +  - **Single-subject rule.** If you bundle five subjects in one application, the PIO may answer only the first and ask you to file separately for the rest. Draft accordingly — one subject, one application.
 +  - **Appeals are no longer free in Maharashtra.** The ₹20 can go as cash against receipt, DD, banker's cheque or a court fee stamp. BPL applicants remain fully exempt from fees under §7(5).
 +  - **Inspection arithmetic changed.** Beyond the free first hour, inspection now costs ₹5 per **15 minutes** — ₹20 an hour on long files, where the older charging rhythm was gentler. For bulky records, use the free hour to identify the pages that matter, then order only those copies at ₹2 each.
 +
 +===== Time limits under the new rules =====
 +
 +  - PIO reply: 30 days under §7(1), as before.
 +  - **First appeal: within 30 days** of the PIO's order or deemed refusal.
 +  - **Second appeal to the commission: within 90 days** of the first-appeal order.
 +
 +===== When to call =====
 +
 +The commission's line helps with registry questions — appeal numbers, listing dates, bench venues, video-hearing options. It cannot pull your file forward. Before calling, keep your appeal number and the public authority's name ready, and check the commission's website, which posts circulars, daily boards and decision texts.
 +
 +===== If the commission itself is slow =====
 +
 +Maharashtra handles the country's largest RTI appeal volume, and waiting periods at the commission run long. One legitimate accelerator: an RTI to the commission's own PIO — ₹10 under the same 2026 rules — asking for your second appeal's registration date, listing history and adjournment reasons. That request must itself be answered in 30 days.
 +
 +**Real example.** Kashvi Pathak of Pune had a second appeal waiting for a listing through two quarters. A ₹10 RTI to the commission's PIO for the file's movement produced a hearing date the following month — the file, it turned out, had been marked to a bench that had since been reorganized.
 +
 +===== Frequently asked questions =====
 +
 +==== Is the first appeal really chargeable in Maharashtra now? ====
 +
 +Yes — ₹20 under the Maharashtra RTI Rules 2026, notified 7 July 2026. Most states still charge nothing; Maharashtra now does.
 +
 +==== What is the application fee in Maharashtra? ====
 +
 +₹10 — payable even as a court fee stamp affixed to the form.
 +
 +==== Can I ask many subjects in one Maharashtra RTI? ====
 +
 +Ordinarily no — one subject per application, within about 150 words. Multi-subject requests may be answered only as to the first subject.
 +
 +==== Which number reaches the commission? ====
 +
 +022-22856078 at Mantralaya, Mumbai. Email [email protected].
 +
 +==== Are there benches outside Mumbai? ====
 +
 +Yes — Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Nashik, Amravati, Konkan and Brihanmumbai benches hear matters regionally.
 +
 +===== Sources =====
 +
 +  * [[https://sic.maharashtra.gov.in|Maharashtra State Information Commission]] — contacts, benches, circulars
 +  * Maharashtra Right to Information Rules 2026, Gazette notification 7 July 2026, published by the commission at its site
 +  * RTI Act 2005, §7(5), §19
 +
 +===== Related =====
 +
 +  * [[/rti-fees-by-state|State-wise RTI fees — see which states charge appeal fees]]
 +  * [[/state-rti-portals-directory|All state RTI portals in one list]]
 +  * [[/helplines/start|All helplines and grievance routes]]
 +  * [[https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/first-appeal-app.html|First Appeal Builder]]
 +  * [[/book|The RTI Playbook]]
 +
 +{{tag>helpline sic-maharashtra mantralaya rti-rules-2026 appeal-fee 2026}}