RTI Rules framed by Central or State Govts. prescribe formats for application or appeal, amount of fees, mode of payment of fees, other charges, etc. Following guidelines will facilitate decision as to which rules are to be followed while applying under RTI Act 2005:

1. If you want information from public authorities which are part of Central Govt. then follow rules of Central Govt, irrespective of location of the office of public authority. For example, for information from Income Tax Dept. you need to follow Central Govt rules irrespective of location of office of Income Tax Dept. where from you want information. To further clarify, if you want information from Income Tax Office located in Gujarat or Tamilnadu, you have to follow central govt. rules.

2. If you want information from public authority which is part of State Govt you need to follow rules of that state. For example if you want details of land in Gujarat, you have to follow rules of Gujarat Govt irrespective of your place of residence. For example say, you are residing in Mumbai, but want information relating to Bangalore Municipal Council, you have to follow rules of Karnataka State Govt.

3. Your place of residence is of no relevance when deciding which rules are to be applied. Rules applicable to the custodian of the information will have to be observed by applicant.

4. In case of High Courts and Supreme Court, rules specially framed by these authorities will have to be followed, while applying for information from these Courts. Subordinate Courts follow the same rules as the rules of the High Court of their State.

5. Similarly, Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) and each State Legislature have their own RTI Rules.

6. Rules of State Govts are available on official websites of respective states and also on the websites of State Information Commissions.

(RTI Rules and Fees for the Centre, States, etc are being continuously updated in the Guide segment here: http://www.rtiindia.org/guide/centre-rti-rules--cic-3/)