RTI for department budget allocation — track every rupee

Sunita is a schoolteacher in a district headquarters town in Madhya Pradesh. In the 2024 State Budget speech she heard the Finance Minister announce ₹42 crore for upgrading the district hospital — a new block, an ICU, and X-ray machines. Two years on, the old block stands cracked, the ICU has no ventilators, and the X-ray machine installed in 2022 broke down within months. The blue budget board at the hospital gate still promises “world-class care soon.”

When Sunita asks the hospital superintendent how much of the ₹42 crore actually arrived and where it went, she is told, “That is with the Finance Department, ask them.” When she writes to the District Treasury, they say, “We only release what the head office sanctions; ask the Health Department.” The two offices pass the question between themselves, and the money trail stays invisible.

This is the most common wall a citizen hits: a budget number spoken in the Assembly or Parliament, and silence on the ground. The Right to Information Act, 2005 breaks that wall. It lets Sunita — and you — ask, in writing, for the exact paper trail of every rupee: how much was allocated head-wise, how much was released on which date, how much was spent on what, how much was surrendered back unspent, and how much was quietly shifted from the hospital-equipment head to travel or office overheads. This guide shows you how to do it, using only verified legal and financial facts as they stand in 2026.

Every rupee the government spends sits inside the Consolidated Fund of India or the Consolidated Fund of a State, established by Article 266 of the Constitution. Article 266(3) is the lock on that fund: no money can be taken out except “in accordance with law and for the purposes and in the manner provided in this Constitution.” The unlocking happens through the budget cycle — the Annual Financial Statement (Article 112 for the Union, 202 for States), the Demands for Grants (Articles 113-114 / 203-204), and the Appropriation Act that finally lets the money leave the fund.

Inside each Demand for Grant, money is broken into heads of account — a structured code (major head, sub-major head, minor head, sub-head, detailed head, object head) that tells you whether the rupee is for “salaries,” “machinery and equipment,” “grants-in-aid,” “minor works,” or “office expenses.” When the Finance Minister announces ₹42 crore for a hospital, that single number is actually a bundle of head-wise allocations, and the real accountability lies in those heads.

The financial-propriety rules that govern how departments spend this money are the General Financial Rules (GFR) 2017, issued by the Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure, and updated up to 31 July 2024. Three GFR rules are the heart of any budget RTI:

1. Rule 62 — Surrender of savings. A department must surrender anticipated savings to the Finance Ministry before the financial year closes; any money not spent by 31 March lapses. A rush of expenditure in February-March to “use up” the budget is itself a breach of financial propriety (Rule 62(3)), which Financial Advisers must watch through a Monthly Expenditure Plan.
2. Rule 65 — Re-appropriation. Funds can be shifted from one head to another within a grant before the year closes, but only by a competent authority, only when savings are foreseen in the source head, and never with the intent to restore the money later. Every re-appropriation of ₹1 lakh or more must record the reason in writing on Form GFR 1, with a copy endorsed to the Accounts Officer.
3. Rule 86(5). All re-appropriation and surrender orders must now be generated through the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) — meaning these are machine-readable, dated, electronic records that a PIO can produce on request.

The single most important RTI hook sits in Section 4(1)(b)(xi) of the RTI Act 2005, which obliges every public authority to publish suo motu “the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursement made.” In plain terms, head-wise budget allocation and disbursement particulars are mandatorily disclosable — the law says they should already be on the department's website. When they are not, your RTI is not asking for a favour; it is enforcing a duty the department has already breached.

To file a sharp RTI you need to know the four numbers that tell the real story of a department's budget. They sit on every Demand for Grant and every Appropriation Account:

1. Budget Estimate (BE): what the department asked Parliament or the Assembly to approve in the Budget presented in February. This is the headline figure.
2. Revised Estimate (RE): the mid-year correction, shown in the next Budget, reflecting what the department now expects to actually spend by 31 March. A big gap between BE and RE is the first warning sign — money was allocated but is not being used, or is being redirected.
3. Final grant: the figure actually authorised by the Appropriation Act, including any supplementary grant passed during the year.
4. Actual expenditure: what the Accounts Officer recorded as spent, head-wise, at year end. This is the number that ends up in the CAG's Appropriation Account.

The gap between “final grant” and “actual expenditure” is the savings. Some savings are legitimate; large, recurring savings on a service-side head (like hospital equipment or school mid-day meal ingredients) usually mean the service did not reach people. The gap between two heads — money taken from head X and added to head Y mid-year — is the re-appropriation. A re-appropriation that moves money from “machinery and equipment” to “office expenses” or “travel allowance” is the classic tell that a budget announced for citizens was quietly repurposed for the department's own running costs.

Behind these numbers, the live fund-flow trail runs through PFMS — the Public Financial Management System, designed, owned and run by the Office of the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) since 2009. PFMS is integrated with the treasuries of all 28 States and 2 Union Territories with legislatures, and with the Core Banking System of over 300 banks (per the CGA's official PFMS page). For Centrally Sponsored Schemes it uses the Single Nodal Agency (SNA) model (notified 23 March 2021); for Central Sector Schemes it uses the Central Nodal Agency (CNA) model (notified 9 March 2022). The public-facing dashboard at pfmsdashboard.gov.in shows scheme-wise fund utilisation. When you ask the PIO for “PFMS transaction details and re-appropriation orders generated through PFMS,” you are asking for the electronic record the department itself relies on.

Two things have changed the budget-transparency picture in 2026 that you should build into your RTI.

First, Section 4(1)(b)(xi) of the RTI Act, 2005 is itself the binding legal duty — it obliges every public authority to publish suo motu “the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursement made.” The Central Information Commission has repeatedly treated non-compliance with Section 4 as an enforceable failure, not a discretion (see the CIC's own suo motu disclosure guidance at cic.gov.in). So a PIO who refuses budget-allocation information is refusing something the statute already says must be on the website. Lead your first appeal with the statutory text, not a favour.

Second, PFMS-generated re-appropriation and surrender orders (GFR Rule 86(5)) are now the norm for Central departments and most States. This means the old excuse — “records are scattered across files, difficult to compile” — no longer holds. The orders exist as structured electronic records with sanction numbers, dates, and head-to-head mapping. Ask for them in PDF plus machine-readable spreadsheet (CSV/XLS) form; the PIO can export them from PFMS in minutes, not weeks.

For the Union Budget 2026-27 itself, the headline numbers are public on indiabudget.gov.in: the total Budget Estimate is around ₹53.47 lakh crore, with Centrally Sponsored Scheme allocations around ₹5.49 lakh crore and Central Sector Scheme allocations around ₹17.72 lakh crore. These are useful for context, but your RTI should stay focused on one department, one financial year, head-wise — that is the unit the PIO can answer cleanly.

You will usually file one application per department per financial year. If the money flows from Centre to State (a Centrally Sponsored Scheme) and you want both ends of the trail, file two — one to the Central ministry's CPIO, one to the State line-department CPIO.

Step 1 — Identify the right public authority.

1. Central ministry's own budget: the Integrated Finance Division / CPIO of that ministry. For the Union Budget frame itself (GFR, PFMS, expenditure profile), the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance (doe.gov.in) and the Budget Division, Department of Economic Affairs (indiabudget.gov.in). The Ministry of Finance covers Demand Nos. 30 to 42 in the Union Budget.
2. State department's budget: the Finance Department / Budget Wing / Accounts and Entitlement wing of the State, or the line department's own Accounts Wing CPIO. Each State has its own Budget Manual and State Financial Rules; verify the exact office name for your State before addressing the envelope.
3. District-level implementation: the Drawing and Disbursement Officer (DDO) or Treasury Officer holds the release and expenditure records, usually accessed through the line department's PIO. If the appropriation accounts sit with the Accountant General (AG), the PIO must transfer your application under Section 6(3) within 5 days and tell you.

Step 2 — Prepare your questions. Ask for specific, dated, head-wise records — not “details.” Five strong questions to copy:

1. Head-wise allocation: “Furnish the certified head-wise and sub-head-wise Budget Estimate, Revised Estimate, and final sanctioned allocation for the [name] Department for FY 2025-26, with major head, sub-major head, minor head and object head codes.”
2. Releases: “Furnish the date-wise statement of fund releases to the [name] Department / scheme for FY 2025-26, with sanction number, sanction date, amount, and budget head for each release.”
3. Expenditure: “Furnish the head-wise, quarter-wise actual expenditure incurred by the [name] Department for FY 2025-26, and the year-end actual against each head.”
4. Re-appropriation and surrender: “Furnish certified copies of every re-appropriation order (head-to-head transfer) and every surrender order issued by the [name] Department for FY 2025-26 under GFR Rule 65 / Rule 62, generated through PFMS under Rule 86(5), with file noting and approval.”
5. Variance reasons: “Furnish the reasons recorded in writing for each head where the saving or excess is ₹1 lakh or more, as required under GFR Rule 65(4).”

Step 3 — Use the right form and fee.

1. For a Central application, file under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act. The fee is Rs.10, payable by Indian Postal Order, court-fee stamp, cash against receipt, or online through the Central RTI portal at rtionline.gov.in by Internet Banking, credit/debit card or UPI. The first appeal is also online and carries no fee. The portal help desk is 011-24010690 / 011-24010691 and [email protected].
2. For a State application, the fee and format are set by your State's RTI Rules — most States charge Rs.10, a few charge nil. Do not assume a single State fee; check your State's rules before filing. See RTI Fees by State and Online Portal Directory (2026) for a state-wise comparison.

Step 4 — Submit and keep proof. File by hand and take a stamped receiving copy, or send by registered post and keep the acknowledgement, or file online and save the registration number. Proof of submission is your protection if the reply is delayed or denied.

Step 5 — Wait 30 days. The PIO must reply within 30 days of receiving your application (48 hours only where life or liberty is at stake, which budget queries normally are not). If the 30 days pass with no reply, or the reply is incomplete, move to the first appeal.

You can speed up drafting with the AI RTI drafting tool at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/ai-rti-draft-app.html and check whether a PIO reply is legally complete with the PIO reply checker at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/pio-reply-checker-app.html.

1. A copy of the Budget speech or Demand for Grant extract that announced the allocation you are tracking (helps the PIO locate the exact head).
2. Any PFMS dashboard screenshot or scheme name you already have, so the PIO cannot claim the scheme is unidentified.
3. A BPL certificate if you are below the poverty line — BPL applicants are exempt from the RTI fee under the RTI (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2012, Rule 5.
4. The Rs.10 IPO or online receipt as proof of fee payment.
5. A self-addressed stamped envelope if filing by post (some States require it; check your State rules).

1. Asking only for the “total budget.” A single total figure tells you nothing. Always ask head-wise — major head, minor head, object head — so the PIO cannot hide a re-appropriation inside a lump sum.
2. Skipping re-appropriation and surrender. These are the two records that reveal whether money was quietly moved or left unspent. Cite GFR Rule 65 (re-appropriation) and Rule 62 (surrender) by name.
3. Filing for multiple years in one application. The PIO can then call it “voluminous” and offer inspection instead of copies. File one financial year per RTI for clean, fast replies.
4. Forgetting PFMS. Under GFR Rule 86(5), re-appropriation and surrender orders are PFMS-generated and machine-readable. Ask for them in PDF plus CSV/XLS so the PIO cannot dump paper files on you.
5. Not naming the Demand number. For Central ministries, naming the Demand for Grant number (e.g., Demand 31 for the Department of Expenditure) pins the PIO to a specific record set.
6. Ignoring Section 4(1)(b)(xi). If the information was already supposed to be on the website, say so in your application and again in your first appeal. A refusal to disclose what Section 4 already mandates is hard for the FAA to defend.
7. Letting the §6(3) transfer go silent. If your application is transferred to another authority, the transferring PIO must tell you within 5 days. If you hear nothing, that is itself grounds for a first appeal under Section 19(1).

To,
The Central Public Information Officer,
[Department Name], Integrated Finance Division / Budget Wing,
[Address]

Subject: Application under Section 6(1), RTI Act 2005 — Head-wise budget allocation, release, utilisation, savings and re-appropriation for FY 2025-26.

Sir/Madam,

Under Section 6(1) and Section 2(j) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, kindly furnish the following information relating to the [name] Department for the financial year 2025-26:

1. Certified head-wise and sub-head-wise Budget Estimate, Revised Estimate and final sanctioned allocation, with major head, sub-major head, minor head and object head codes.
2. Date-wise statement of fund releases with sanction number, date, amount and budget head for each release.
3. Head-wise, quarter-wise actual expenditure incurred and year-end actual against each head.
4. Certified copies of every re-appropriation order issued under GFR Rule 65 and every surrender order issued under GFR Rule 62, generated through PFMS under Rule 86(5), with file noting and approval.
5. Certified copies of all Utilisation Certificates received and accepted for schemes under these heads.
6. Reasons recorded in writing for each head where the saving or excess is ₹1 lakh or more, as required under GFR Rule 65(4).
7. Certified copies of supplementary grant requests and approvals for FY 2025-26, if any.

I note that the information at points 1 to 3 above is already required to be published suo motu under Section 4(1)(b)(xi) of the RTI Act, 2005. To the extent it has not been published, please supply it in reply to this application.

Under Section 7(1), please supply the information within 30 days. Under Section 6(3), if any part of this application pertains to another public authority, please transfer it within 5 days and intimate me of the transferred authority. Under Section 10, please sever any exempt portion and supply the rest, with a speaking order citing the specific exemption invoked.

Application fee of Rs.10 is enclosed via Indian Postal Order No. [____].

[Name, address, mobile, email, date, signature]

1. First appeal — Section 19(1): If no reply reaches you within 30 days (plus 15 days transit for postal applications), or the reply is incomplete, file a First Appeal with the First Appellate Authority in the same department within 30 days of the deadline. The FAA must decide within 30 days, extendable to 45. There is no fee for a Central first appeal.
2. Second appeal — Section 19(3): If the FAA also fails you, file a Second Appeal to the Central Information Commission (for a Central ministry) or your State Information Commission (for a State department) within 90 days of the FAA order. Lead with Section 4(1)(b)(xi) — budget allocation and disbursement particulars are mandatorily disclosable by statute, so a refusal is a failure of a legal duty, not a mere dispute over a record.
3. Complaint — Section 18: If the PIO never replied at all or refused to accept the application, you can also file a direct complaint to the Information Commission.
4. Penalty — Section 20: The Commission can impose a penalty of Rs.250 per day on the PIO, up to Rs.25,000, for delay or wrongful refusal without reasonable cause.

Use the timeline calculator at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/timeline-calculator-app.html to work out your exact first-appeal and second-appeal deadlines, and the first-appeal drafting tool at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/first-appeal-app.html to prepare the appeal.

No. File one financial year per application. Bundling years lets the PIO call the request “voluminous” and offer inspection instead of certified copies. One year, one department, head-wise — that is the unit the PIO can answer in 30 days.

Yes. File notings on re-appropriation and surrender decisions are “information” under Section 2(f) of the RTI Act. Ask specifically for “note sheets and approval notings” on each re-appropriation order under GFR Rule 65. The PIO can refuse only by invoking a specific exemption under Section 8 or 9 with a speaking order.

Partly. The PFMS dashboard at pfmsdashboard.gov.in shows scheme-wise utilisation, which is useful context. But it rarely shows head-wise re-appropriation orders, surrender statements, file notings, or the reasons for variance — those still need an RTI. Treat PFMS as your starting map, and the RTI as the drill.

That is a Section 6(3) transfer situation. The PIO must transfer your application to the correct authority within 5 days and intimate you in writing. If the PIO simply rejects it instead of transferring, that is grounds for a first appeal. The Accountant General holds the appropriation accounts that reconcile budget to actual expenditure — see RTI to Track a CAG Audit Objection for that route.

Only partly. Under the RTI (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2012, the PIO can point to a large volume and offer a date for inspection (first hour free, then Rs.5 per hour). But head-wise allocation, releases, expenditure and re-appropriation for one department and one year are not voluminous — and under GFR Rule 86(5) they exist as PFMS-generated electronic records. Insist on PDF plus CSV copies. If the PIO still refuses, escalate.

The application fee is Rs.10 (Central). Reproduction charges under Rule 4 are Rs.2 per page for A3 or smaller, Rs.50 per diskette or electronic medium, and the first hour of inspection is free. If the PIO breaches the 30-day time limit, the fee is waived under Section 7(6). BPL applicants are exempt from the fee on producing a BPL certificate.

Budget Estimate is what the department asked for in February; Revised Estimate is the mid-year correction shown in the next Budget; final grant is what the Appropriation Act actually authorised, including any supplementary grant. A wide BE-to-RE gap is your first signal that the announced budget was never going to be spent as promised.

Yes. Under Section 2(j) you can request the form of access, and under GFR Rule 86(5) the records exist as PFMS-generated electronic files. Ask for “PDF plus machine-readable spreadsheet (CSV/XLS) where available.” If the PIO supplies only paper, that is a partial reply you can challenge in first appeal.

File two applications in parallel: one to the Central ministry's CPIO (which holds the Central share release and PFMS trail from Delhi) and one to the State line-department CPIO (which holds the State share, the head-wise expenditure, and the ground-level re-appropriation). Filing both prevents the two offices from passing the buck to each other.

1. RTI Act 2005 — full text: [cic.gov.in](https://rtionline.gov.in)
2. RTI (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2012, Rules 3-5: [niti.gov.in PDF](https://niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2025-07/RTI%20Rules%20Final%20PDF.pdf)
3. Section 4(1)(b) suo motu disclosure (CIC's own disclosure page): [cic.gov.in](https://cic.gov.in/rti-disclosoures)
4. Constitution of India, Article 266 — Consolidated Fund: [constitutionofindia.net](https://www.constitutionofindia.net/articles/article-266-consolidated-funds-and-public-accounts-of-india-and-of-the-states/)
5. General Financial Rules (GFR) 2017, Rules 57, 62, 64, 65, 66, 86 (updated to 31.07.2024): [doe.gov.in PDF](https://doe.gov.in/files/circulars_document/GFR2017_0_11zon_1.pdf)
6. Public Financial Management System (PFMS): [pfms.nic.in](https://pfms.nic.in/Home.aspx) and PFMS dashboard: [pfmsdashboard.gov.in](https://pfmsdashboard.gov.in/)
7. Controller General of Accounts — PFMS: [cga.nic.in](https://cga.nic.in/Page/Public-Finance-Management-System-PFMS.aspx)
8. Department of Expenditure — SNA / CNA models: [doe.gov.in](https://doe.gov.in/pfms)
9. Union Budget 2026-27: [indiabudget.gov.in](https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/index.php)
10. Central RTI online portal: [rtionline.gov.in](https://rtionline.gov.in)

1. RTI for Utilisation Certificate
2. RTI for CAG audit objection follow-up
3. RTI for grant-in-aid disbursement
4. RTI for MP and MLA fund utilization
5. RTI for AMRUT scheme funds
6. RTI for Swachh Bharat Mission funds
7. Contractor bill pending in treasury
8. RTI in 12 simple steps

Last reviewed: 5 July 2026.