Send RTI application Free of Cost

[poonam agarwal]

Kushal sir and sidmis sir and karira sir .You know that postal department is sending our RTI application FREE OF COST . My humble suggestion is that when you send welcome message to new members you should send the link to them . so that they must know RTI postage is free. I lost so much money on speed post initially .A good suggestion na???

[jiwateshwar]

What?? Damn! I still dont know about this. Could you put up alink or something as to how to avail this?

[poonam agarwal]

On this link you will get ALL INDIA list of post offices where you can submitt RTI application FREE OF POSTAGE CHARGES.
Welcome to the Indiapost Web Site

[sidmis]

Yes You are right.

Postal Department is the Nodal Agency for a lot of Central Public Authorities and they have made arrangments for accepting RTI applications and Appeals and forwarding them to the concerned CPIO.

Plz keep in mind that they will accept RTI application only for a certain Public Authorities only. State level public authorities are not covered yet.

The complete list of it is available here. http://164.100.42.72/apio/AbstractI.asp

List of designated post offices accepting RTI Application are available here.

Welcome to the Indiapost Web Site
Welcome to the Indiapost Web Site

Also see the following posts

PMO instructing Department of post

[poonam agarwal]

sidmis sir . please comment on my suggestion.tell truth . my suggestion is very good na?

[sidmis]

Poonam this has been discussed before in this forum.
Visit the link I posted above.

I have already posted a Thank you note on your post.

[ganpat1956]

Please also refer to the discussions in the following threads:

1.Is there a provision in Post Offices to collect RTI applications and send to CPIOs

2.DoP does its bit for people’s right to info

[poonam agarwal]

sidmis sir . i am not talking about this discusion . i am talking about informing new members at the time of welcome message to them

[ganpat1956]

Originally Posted by poonam agarwal

i am talking about informing new members at the time of welcome message to them

All new comers are generally advised to go through the various sections of the portal if they want to know more about RTI. There is so much of important material and information that has been compiled by our active members, under various headings like Guide, Blogs, Directory etc., besides valuable discussions on individual threads by duly tagging them in the appropriate category.

This particular aspect of submission of application has also been covered in the Guide segment.

It is not possible to thrust on somebody a list of post offices, without actually knowing if the purpose of his/her registration is only to send an application free of cost. Besides, these post offices will not accept applications on local bodies or state governments. A new entrant hailing from a village or a small town will not have the facility of a designated post office nearby, even if he wishes to make an application for a central govt PIO.

[poonam agarwal]

ganpat sir . yes you are right .since i lost a good deal of money on speed post , i thought my suggestion may be helpful to new or experienced members alike. however , sir your analysis of situation is amply correct.

[sidmis]

since i lost a good deal of money on speed post.

This means you must have filed a lot of RTI Applications. Plz share your experience in this forum.

BTW try to shorten your signatuer a little bit. You may delete this portion from "#12.____MAHARASHTRA_POSTAL_CIRCLE"

[poonam agarwal]

sidmis sir .yes i have a made around 20 rti applications . asking mostly non controversial informations just to sharpen my teeth. henceforth i will ask more public concerned queries. I need guidence from this forum .

[poonam agarwal]

http://www.indiapost.gov.in/rtimanua..._POSTAL_CIRCLE

[DineshK]

Thanks for the suggestion and link Poonam. However I request you to visit and experience the time taken in the long queue at these counters. Then add the conveyance into it.

A normal local speed post costs me Rs. 12 only. Speed post booking counter is open from 8 AM to 8 PM. So I visit the post office after 6 PM when the booking clerk is sitting ideal with newspaper and a cup of tea !!

This can be good option only for those staying near to these nodel post offices.

[sidmis]

There are certain advantages and disadvantages of using Postal Route. As an old adage goes "There's no Free meal". The same applies here also.

So there's no FREE RTI as such. But using the postal route will only save you the postal expenses and it's relatively hassle free. That's all. You still have to pay the prescribed cost of information as per rules. Nonetheless it should be part of an Active RTI user's armory.

The following are the Pros & Cons of using the Postal Route from my own experience. Any comments from forum member's are welcome.


Pros:

1. Relatively hassle free.
2. No need to pay postage.
3. Can be used both for New RTI Applications and Appeals.
4. Payment by Cash. (You can still pay by IPO/Draft if you wish)
5. Can act as a Proof of submission of RTI Application.

Cons:

1. Adds extra 5 days to the RTI Response time.
2. Some of the stubborn / ignorant PIOs refuse to accept Cash paid at Post office and demand further fees.
3. Not all Central Public Authorities are covered.
4. State level Public Authorities are still excluded.
5. subject to the whims of the counter clerk accepting the RTI application.
6. This route cannot be used for payment of further fees or for subsequent communicatons. (Am I right?)
7. Limited no. of Post offices are covered.(workaround is possible)

[abhi987]

Facilitating filing of RTI applications free of cost is nice, but at the same I wonder if one can employ the services of a private courier company to file RTI applications.

Because:

1) They pick up right from your door step.

2) They are very efficient in deliverying, as far as my experience with the Vichare Courier in Mumbai goes, they definetly deliver the next day without fail within Mumbai and surrounding central, western and harbour suburbs for just Rs10/-.

3) Most importantly I have without fail recd acknowlegments within one week, again right at my door step, which is a very important documentary evidence one would require in case of no reply from PIO / AA.

4) Whereas a few times I have not recd acknowledgments for speed post/ regd ad and then the labor of going to the post office, write a letter to the post master, follow up...

[DineshK]

I think there is no problem in using a private courier. But you should insure that they provide you "Proof of Delivery" whenever required.

[sidmis]

It is always advisable to avoid Private Courier service in matter of RTI. Use them only when you have no other options left.

In the context of Right to Information Private courier services are no match for Dept. of Post .

[poonam agarwal]

whats wrong in private courrieir sir ?

[Justice]

1. Govt offices cannot dispute a Regd post especially acknowledgement due which has to be delivered to the concerned person.
2. A Speedpost article can be delivered to anyone in the concerned office.
3. A Pvt Couriered can be disputed unless a signed & sealed Proof of delivery is returned to you. That is rarely the case now - especially the Rs 10/- courier.