When it comes to RTI fee,UP House acts pricey

Section 27(2) of Right to Information Act,2005,specifies that the government,“without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power”,may make rules for the fee payable under section 6(1) for obtaining the information under RTI Act by making a request in writing or through electronic means.

According to UP Vidhan Sabha Secretariat Right to Information(Regulation of fee and cost) Rules 2007,says,“with the application for obtaining information under sub-section(1) of section (6),a fee of Rs 500 will also be sent by way of cash against proper receipt or by demand draft or bankers cheque payable to the Drawing and Disbursing Officer of the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat Uttar Pradesh.”

The rules made by Vidhan Sabha Speaker under Section 27(2) of RTI Act,were notified in November 2007.

State Public Information Officer of the Vidhan Sabha and Deputy Secretary Dev Narayan Mishra said,“After receiving an application along with Rs 500 application fee,we consider whether to provide the information or not.”

Besides application fee,the cost of every created or copied paper of A4 or A3 size is calculated at Rs 15 and the charge for inspection of records is Rs 50 for the first half an hour and additional Rs 10 for each subsequent 15 minutes (or fraction thereof). The cost is higher than those charged in most other legislative Assemblies,Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

To provide the written information the Rajya Sabha,Lok Sabha and Bihar Vidhan Sabha charge Rs 2 for each page in A4 or A3 size paper created or copied,and for inspection of records no fee for the first hour and a fee of Rs 5 for each subsequent hour (or fraction thereof).

Haryana Vidhan Sabha charges Rs 10 for each page in A3 or A4 size and no fee is charged for inspection or records for one hour but a fee of Rs 10 per hour is charged for every hour in excess of first hour.