Right to Information Act 2005: Obligations of Public Authorities

A “public authority” is any authority body or institution of self-government established or constituted by or under the Constitution; or by any other law made by the Parliament or a State Legislature; or by notification issued or order made by the Central Government or a State Government. The bodies owned, controlled, or substantially financed by the Central Government or a State Government and non-Government organisations substantially financed by the Central Government or a State Government. The bodies owned, controlled, or substantially financed by the Central Government or a State Government and non-Government organisations substantially financed by the Central Government or a State Government also fall within the definition of public authority. The financing of the body or the NGO by the Government may be direct or indirect.

The Act casts an important obligation on public authorities to facilitate the citizens or the country to access the information held under their control. The obligations of the authority are the obligations of the head of the authority, which should ensure that these are met in right earnest.

What is the designation of PIO under the RTI Act section?

The Right to Information Act, of 2005 requires public authorities to designate Public Information Officers (PIOs) in all administrative units and offices under them. The Act also requires the designation of Central or State Here Assistant Public Information Officers (CAPIOs or SAPIOs) at each sub-divisional level.

PIOs are responsible for providing information to citizens who request it under the Act. PIOs should provide reasonable assistance to people seeking information. PIOs can seek the assistance of other officers if they deem it necessary.

Officers and their Obligations – Right to Information Act

Section 5(1) of the Central Act requires the appointment of as many Public Information Officers (PIOs) in “all administrative units and offices” of the public authority as are necessary to provide the public with access to information. In practice, this means that virtually every government office should have someone in them who is designated as the PIO who will be responsible for receiving and processing applications.

Ideally, the PIO should be a senior person in the office so that they have the authority to make decisions on whether to release documents. Otherwise, if too junior a person is nominated they may be more reluctant to release information for fear of making a mistake and getting into trouble. This may make them err on the side of caution – as a result of which they may undermine the spirit of open government that the Central Act seeks to entrench.

All officers within each public authority must understand the role of the PIO as they will be the “face of RTI” as far as other officials – as well as the public – are concerned. Sections 5(4) and (5) make it clear that all officers – no matter their seniority – have a duty to support the work of the PIO and to assist them in processing applications when requested.

PIOs generally have two key responsibilities:

Receiving/facilitating requests: Requests are either sent directly to the PIO (or under the Central Act they can also be given to an Assistant PIO (APIO) who forwards it to the PIO). They can be given by hand, mailed by post, or even emailed. The Central Act and most State Acts place a responsibility on the PIO to assist applicants in framing their request if they have difficulty writing up the request appropriately or if they are illiterate. The PIO (and APIO) is also responsible for issuing a receipt for the application.

Responding to requests:

The PIO is responsible for processing the request. Generally, this means that they will first need to find all the information requested. This may require them to ask other officers within the organisation to help to find information. They might even need to ask other departments to assist. The PIO will then need to look at the information collected and decide, taking into account the exemptions in the law, whether any or all of the information needs to be withheld from release. The PIO will notify the applicant of their decision, within set time limits.

The PIO must understand the operation of the RTI law in detail. Although all organization members should be given training on the relevant RTI law so that they know their obligations and those of the organisation more generally, the PIO must be trained on the law as a matter of priority. They will be the first person responsible for applying the Act to applications, so they must be confident in interpreting and applying the various provisions of the law.