RTI First Appeal
If the applicant does not receive the response for the RTI, within 30 days (or 35 days in case the application was transferred to another department or was submitted to APIO) of submitting the application, then the applicant can file for an appeal. An appeal can also be filed if the applicant is not satisfied with the response for the RTI.
However, the appeal must be filed within 30 days of expected date of response or the date when he response was received.
First appeal has been described under section 19(1) of the act:
19. (1) Any person who, does not receive a decision within the time specified in sub- section (1) or clause (a) of sub-section (3) of section 7, or is aggrieved by a decision of the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, may within thirty days from the expiry of such period or from the receipt of such a decision prefer an appeal to such officer who is senior in rank to the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer as the case may be, in each public authority:Provided that such officer may admit the appeal after the expiry of the period of thirty days if he or she is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.First Appellate authorities
First appellate authorities/officers have been designated who outrank the PIOs/APIOs. These officers are responsible for receiving the appeals for the RTIs. List of First Appellate authorities can be found on the website: www.rti.gov.in. On the same website rules for submitting the appeal can also be found. If the details are not present on the website, then check the website for the department or make an enquiry at the local office of the department.
Appeal Form
Some of the states have prescribed a form for first appeal which can be found on the website www.rti.gov.in.
Make sure to attach a copy of the RTI and response (if received) with the appeal and take an acknowledgement of appeal submission.
Unsatisfactory RTI appeal response
If the applicant is not satisfied with the response of RTI appeal, then the applicant can either file a RTI appeal or file a Section 18 complaint or go for a second appeal.
Click on the following links to learn more about the RTI First appeal and Section 18 complaint: