Srinagar, Sep 9: The Jammu and Kashmir government’s online Right to Information (RTI) portal has come under criticism from users who allege that it contravenes provisions of the RTI Act, 2005, by imposing procedural hurdles and ignoring fee exemptions for the poor.
RTI activist Syed Farhat filed a formal complaint (Grievance Registration No: MINIT/E/2025/0006002) with the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology on September 6, seeking immediate rectification of the flaws.
Farhat pointed out that the portal (rtionline.jk.gov.in) restricts the filing of first appeals until 30 days have passed since submitting a request or until its disposal. “This directly contradicts the RTI Act, which permits appeals as soon as statutory deadlines, 48 hours for life and liberty cases, 7 days for third-party information, and 30 days for other matters, are breached,” he said.
He further alleged that the portal fails to automatically extend fee exemptions to Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) cardholders, even when valid certificates are uploaded. This compels indigent applicants to pay fees they are legally exempt from.
The activist noted that such practices undermine public faith in transparency mechanisms. “These violations erode public trust in the transparency mechanism. The government must act swiftly to uphold the RTI Act,” Farhat told the news agency Kashmir News Trust.
The criticism comes despite a government press release issued on September 4 which maintained that the portal is “fully compliant” and does not restrict appeals.
Farhat urged the authorities to promptly fix the procedural and technical flaws to restore public confidence in the RTI system. [KNT]
