Subsidy Status RTI — DBT / scheme payment delay (2026)

A subsidy that was sanctioned but never landed in your bank account has a paper trail, and the Right to Information Act 2005 gives you the power to read it. The department that owes you the money must answer in writing within 30 days under §7(1) — and once the file notings are on your table, the “system problem” excuse usually disappears.

It is an information request, not a complaint. Under §6(1) of the RTI Act you ask the implementing department to disclose what its own records show: whether your instalment was generated, why the credit failed, and who is sitting on the file. The reply is binding and written.

1. RTI Act 2005, §4(1)(b)(xii) — every public authority must proactively publish “the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes”. Your RTI simply forces disclosure the department already owes the public.
2. §6(1) — any citizen may request information; you do not have to explain why you want it.
3. §6(3) — if you file with the wrong office, the PIO must transfer the application to the right public authority within 5 days, not reject it.
4. §7(1) — reply within 30 days (48 hours where life or liberty is involved).
5. §19(1) — first appeal to the department's senior officer within 30 days of the deadline passing; §19(3) — second appeal to the Central or State Information Commission within 90 days.
6. How DBT moves: ministry sanctions → PFMS releases payment advice → sponsor bank pushes the credit through the NPCI Aadhaar Payment Bridge → your bank account. A break at any link produces silence — the RTI asks each custodian for its part of the chain.
7. Case law: in Aakash Goel v. CPIO, Department of Food & Public Distribution (CIC/DOFPD/A/2025/650088, decided 11 March 2026) the Commission held that where beneficiary verification and data sit with State authorities, the citizen is rightly directed to the State PIO. Lesson: aim the RTI at the authority that actually holds the record.

Your bank is generally the wrong respondent — it sees a returned credit, not the scheme file. The Aakash Goel order above confirms the Commission's practice of routing citizens to the authority holding the record.

1. Collect your identifiers: beneficiary ID, scheme name, instalment or tranche number, Aadhaar-linked account number.
2. Check the free channels first: PM-KISAN “Know Your Status” on pmkisan.gov.in or the 24×7 IVRS helpline 155261 (also 011-24300606); PFMS “Know Your Payment” on pfms.nic.in; NPCI's Aadhaar-seeding status check under the Consumer tab on npci.org.in.
3. Lodge one grievance on the scheme portal or CPGRAMS (pgportal.gov.in) and note the ticket number — asking for “action taken on grievance No. X” is powerful in the RTI.
4. Draft a single-page application (template below) addressed to the CPIO of the implementing authority.
5. Pay ₹10 — Indian Postal Order, court-fee stamp, DD, or online payment; attach the BPL card copy and pay nothing if you are below the poverty line.
6. Send by registered post or file on rtionline.gov.in for central ministries, and keep the receipt — the date starts the 30-day clock.
7. No reply or an evasive reply by day 31? File the first appeal under §19(1) free of cost with the same office's First Appellate Authority; day 76 onwards, second appeal under §19(3) to the CIC or State Information Commission.

1. Copy of the RTI application and the ₹10 payment proof
2. Beneficiary ID / registration number
3. Bank statement page showing the missing credit window
4. Grievance ticket number and any replies received
5. BPL card copy (claims the fee exemption)

• Filing to the bank instead of the scheme authority — the bank holds no scheme file (§6(3) should rescue you, but weeks are lost).
• Asking “why has my subsidy not come?” — a question invites opinion; ask for records: status, dates, return reason, file notings (§6(1) covers information held in material form).
• Omitting the instalment or tranche number, so the PIO replies “no such record”.
• Skipping the grievance first — CPGRAMS tickets give the RTI a concrete “action taken” question.
• Missing the 30-day first-appeal window after the reply deadline (§19(1)).
• Sending cash or forgetting to sign — both give the PIO a technical reason to reject.

To,
The Central Public Information Officer,
[Department / Ministry / District Office implementing the scheme],
[Full postal address].

Subject: Application under §6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005 — status of
DBT / subsidy payment

Sir/Madam,

Kindly provide the following information relating to beneficiary
[Scheme name], beneficiary ID [number], instalment/tranche [number]
for the period [dates]:

1. Present status of the payment: generated, released, returned or
   withheld, with the date of each action.
2. The return or rejection reason recorded for the failed credit to
   account [last 4 digits], bank [name].
3. Whether the beneficiary's Aadhaar-bank mapping on the date of
   transfer was active, and to which bank it pointed.
4. Copies of the relevant file notings and correspondence on the
   delay.
5. Action taken on grievance No. [number] dated [date], with copies
   of the reply.
6. Name and designation of the officer responsible for releasing
   this instalment.

Payment of Rs. 10 is made by [IPO/DD/Court-fee stamp] No. [number].
[If BPL: Copy of BPL card enclosed; fee exemption claimed under
the RTI Rules.]

Yours faithfully,
[Name]
[Full address, phone, email]
[Date] [Place]

Public-sector banks are public authorities, so you can — but the scheme file sits with the department. Ask the bank only for the return reason on the specific credit; ask the department for everything else.

The recorded return reason, the exact date the money bounced, the officer's notings and the action on your grievance — the four things the portal never shows.

With the State Information Commission, within 90 days under §19(3). For central schemes it is the CIC — see State-wise RTI fees and commission details.

No. The ₹10 fee applies regardless of the instalment size; only BPL cardholders are exempt.

You are asking about your own payment — you may be asked to prove identity, not denied. For beneficiary-list data of others, the Aakash Goel order shows the Commission expects you to approach the authority holding that list.

Under §19(8)(b) the Information Commission may direct compensation for genuine loss; plead the delay and the instalment amount specifically in the second appeal.

File the first appeal on day 31 (§19(1)) and the second appeal any time in the next 90 days (§19(3)) — meanwhile keep the CPGRAMS ticket running in parallel.

The AI RTI Drafter builds this exact application from your scheme details, and the Timeline Tracker prints your appeal deadlines.

• PM-KISAN instalment RTI — full guide
• Scholarship delay RTI
• Pension delay RTI
• CPGRAMS grievance escalation
• File RTI online — 12 steps
• RTI Act 2005 · case-law database · State-wise RTI fees
• PIO Reply Checker — test the reply you get
• First Appeal Builder — for the day-31 appeal
• The RTI Playbook — the complete method, chapter by chapter

• RTI Act, 2005 — full official text, Central Information Commission: https://cic.gov.in/sites/default/files/RTI-Act_English.pdf (§4(1)(b)(xii), §6, §7(1), §19)
• PM-KISAN scheme and instalment structure: https://pmkisan.gov.in and PIB release PRID 1566073
• PM-KISAN IVRS helpline 155261 / 011-24300606: PIB release PRID 1906870, https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1906870
• DBT Mission: https://dbtbharat.gov.in · PFMS payment status: https://pfms.nic.in · CPGRAMS: https://www.pgportal.gov.in
• NPCI Aadhaar-seeding status check (Consumer section): https://www.npci.org.in
• Aakash Goel v. CPIO, Dept. of Food & Public Distribution, CIC/DOFPD/A/2025/650088 (11.03.2026): https://indiankanoon.org/doc/18794706/

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. Verified §4(1)(b)(xii), §7(1) and §19 timelines against the official Act text hosted by the Central Information Commission, PM-KISAN amounts and the 155261 helpline against pmkisan.gov.in and PIB releases, and the CIC ruling against the order text on Indian Kanoon.