Is your school covered by RTI? The Section 2(h) test

Your school is covered by RTI only if the government owns it, controls it, or substantially finances it. That is the test in Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005. A government grant-in-aid school your school depends on for survival is usually covered. A private school that gets only compensatory reimbursement is usually not.

Short on time? Skip to the decision checklist below, then read “What to do if your school is not a public authority.”

Work through these four tests. Section 2(h)(d) covers any body that is owned, controlled, or substantially financed by government. If any one of the first three is “yes”, your school is likely a public authority and must answer your RTI directly.

1. Is it owned by government? A government school, a municipal school, or a school run by a government department is owned by the State. This is a clear “yes”.
2. Is it controlled by government? Does a government body appoint the managing committee, approve the budget, or run day-to-day administration? Deep, pervasive control, not mere regulation, counts.
3. Is it substantially financed by government? Does grant-in-aid pay most teacher salaries and running costs, so the school depends on that money for its very existence? If yes, it is substantially financed.
4. Or does it only get compensatory reimbursement? If government only repays the school for fee concessions or a specific scheme, that is not substantial financing. The school is not a public authority on that ground alone.

If you answered “no” to the first three and “yes” to the fourth, your school is most likely outside RTI. Read the routing section to get the same records another way.

Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005 defines “public authority”. Clause (d)(i) extends the definition to any body “owned, controlled or substantially financed” directly or indirectly by government funds. The fight is almost always over the words “substantially financed”.

The Supreme Court settled the meaning in Thalappalam Ser. Coop. Bank Ltd. v State of Kerala (2013). The Court held that substantial financing means funding of a degree that makes the body “practically dependent upon such funding for its very existence and continued operation”. Small grants, tax breaks, or land at concessional rates do not make a body a public authority. The money must keep it alive.

The High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur applied this test in DAV Public School v Central Information Commission (2026:CGHC:24527, decided 18 June 2026). South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) reimbursed the school for fee deficits caused by concessional fees. The Court held this reimbursement was “essentially compensatory in nature” and “neither constitutes a regular grant-in-aid nor reflects any obligation … to finance the institution as a whole”.

So the school did not fall within “public authority” under Section 2(h). The Court added that treating the Principal as a deemed Public Information Officer (PIO) under Section 5 was “wholly untenable in law”, because the institution was not a public authority in the first place. You cannot have a PIO inside a body that RTI does not reach.

This ruling is narrow. It does not say private schools are immune from RTI. It says one school, getting one kind of compensatory reimbursement, was not substantially financed. A government-aided school whose teacher salaries and running costs come from grant-in-aid sits on the other side of the line. Such a school can be a public authority, because it depends on that aid for its existence. The label “private” or “aided” does not decide the question. The flow of money does.

You can still get most school records. The trick is to file your RTI with a body that is plainly a public authority and that already holds the information.

1. District Education Officer (DEO). The DEO holds recognition files, inspection reports, sanctioned-post data, and complaints about your school. The DEO is a State government office and a clear public authority.
2. State education department / directorate. For grant-in-aid records, teacher approvals, and policy, file with the State School Education Department PIO.
3. Affiliating board (CBSE, ICSE, or State board). Boards hold affiliation files, infrastructure declarations, and safety certificates submitted by the school. CBSE is a public authority and answers RTIs.
4. Regulator or scheme authority. If the school runs a government scheme (such as a concessional-fee scheme), the scheme-administering authority holds the audit and reimbursement records.

Ask for the record, not for an opinion. Request “copies of the inspection report dated …”, “the sanctioned teaching posts”, or “fee-concession reimbursement claims filed by [school]”. A public authority must give you any record it holds, even if the record is about a private body. Use the RTI assistant tool to draft the application, and see how students and parents use RTI for school-specific templates.

If the school IS substantially financed by grant-in-aid and still refuses, treat the refusal as a denial. File a first appeal under Section 19 within 30 days, then a second appeal to the CIC or SIC if the appeal fails. For more on how the “public authority” test plays out, see how the public-authority test was applied to the BCCI.

For the full procedure end to end, read The RTI Playbook.

• Run the four-test checklist above on your school. Note which test it passes or fails.
• If it fails all financing tests, identify the right office: DEO, State department, or affiliating board.
• Draft a Section 6 RTI naming the exact record you want, not an opinion.
• Pay the ₹10 fee and file. Note the date. The reply is due in 30 days under Section 7(1).

No. A private school is exempt only if it is not owned, controlled, or substantially financed by government. A school that lives on government grant-in-aid can be a public authority under Section 2(h)(d). The 2026 Chhattisgarh ruling exempted one school because it got only compensatory reimbursement, not regular aid. Apply the financing test to your own school.

It means government money forms a major portion of the body's funds, so the body depends on that money for its very existence and continued operation. The Supreme Court set this standard in Thalappalam (2013). A small grant, a tax break, or land at a concession does not count. The aid must keep the institution running.

File your RTI with a public authority that holds the records. The District Education Officer keeps inspection and recognition files. The affiliating board keeps affiliation and safety files. The State education department keeps grant and approval records. Ask for the specific record, not the school's view. A public authority must give you any record it holds.

Only if the school is a public authority. The Chhattisgarh High Court held in 2026 that treating a Principal as a deemed PIO under Section 5 is “wholly untenable in law” when the institution is not a public authority. If the school is not covered, there is no PIO to name. File with the regulator instead.

If the school survives on grant-in-aid, it is likely a public authority and the refusal is a denial. File a first appeal under Section 19(1) within 30 days of the deadline or the refusal. If the first appeal fails, file a second appeal to the Central or State Information Commission. Keep copies of every application and reply.

• RTI Act, 2005, Section 2(h) and Section 5 (definition of public authority and PIO).
• Thalappalam Ser. Coop. Bank Ltd. v State of Kerala (Supreme Court of India, 2013), the “substantial financing” test.
• DAV Public School v Central Information Commission, 2026:CGHC:24527, High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur, decided 18 June 2026.

• When is a body a public authority: the BCCI RTI case
• How to file a first appeal under Section 19
• How to file a second appeal to the CIC or SIC
• RTI for students and parents
• RTI assistant: draft your application