Officials to face action for refusing postal orders as RTI fee

The government has decided to impose a penalty on officials who do not accept postal orders as fees for getting information under the Right to Information Act.
    
The Department of Personnel and Training has issued a circular in this regard.
    
It has been brought to the notice of this Department that some public authorities do not accept fees through the Indian Postal Orders (IPO).
    
"Refusal to accept fees through the IPO may be treated as refusal to accept the application. It may result into imposition of penalty by the Central Information Commission on the concerned Central Public Information Officer," the circular issued to all ministries or departments under the Government of India said.
    
"All the public authorities should, therefore, ensure that payment of fees by IPO is not denied," it said.
    
Any citizen can seek information from government run departments by exercising his Right to Information by making a payment of a fee of Rs10 by cash or demand draft or banker's cheque or postal orders, it said.