How to File an RTI First Appeal and Second Appeal (2026)

How-To Guide · Transparency · RTI

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

You filed an RTI application and got silence, a delay, or a reply that dodges the question. The Right to Information Act, 2005 gives you a clear next step: a first appeal to a senior officer, and if that fails, a second appeal to the Information Commission. The first appeal is free, needs no special form, and must be filed within 30 days. Getting the step and the timing right is what keeps your appeal alive. This guide explains who you appeal to, by when, what to write, and gives a usable first appeal format. Last verified October 2026.

01When to file a first appeal

You can file a first appeal in any of these situations:

• The Public Information Officer (PIO) did not reply within 30 days of your application.
• The PIO refused the information.
• The reply was incomplete, misleading or wrong.
• You are unhappy with the fee demanded, or the form in which the information was given.

The first appeal is your main chance to fix the problem quickly and cheaply, before going to the Information Commission. For how the original application is filed, see how to file an RTI application online.

02Who the First Appellate Authority is

The first appeal goes to the First Appellate Authority (FAA), who is an officer senior in rank to the PIO within the same public authority. It is not a court and not an outside body. It is a senior officer in the same department.

Public authorities are supposed to name their FAA, often on their website or in the reply itself. If you cannot find the name, address the appeal to the First Appellate Authority at the same office as the PIO, and it will be routed to the right officer.

03Deadlines for the first appeal

Timing matters. Under Section 19(1), the first appeal must be filed within 30 days from the date you received the PIO decision, or from the date the reply was due if you got no reply.

The FAA must normally decide the appeal within 30 days, extendable to a total of 45 days for reasons recorded in writing, under Section 19(6). No fee is normally charged for a first appeal.

04First appeal format you can adapt

There is no fixed statutory form for a first appeal. A simple letter works. Replace the bracketed parts with your details.

FIRST APPEAL UNDER SECTION 19(1) OF THE RTI ACT, 2005

To,
The First Appellate Authority,
[Name / office of the public authority]
[Address]

Date: [DATE]

Subject: First appeal against the decision / non-reply of the
Public Information Officer on RTI application dated [DATE].

Sir/Madam,

1. I filed an RTI application dated [DATE] (copy enclosed),
   diary / reference number [NUMBER], seeking the following
   information: [brief description].

2. The PIO [did not reply within 30 days] / [refused the
   information] / [gave an incomplete or misleading reply] on
   [DATE] (copy enclosed).

3. This is wrong because [state why: the information is not
   exempt, the reply is incomplete, no reasons were given, etc.].

4. I therefore request that the PIO be directed to provide the
   complete information free of further cost, and that suitable
   action be taken as the law allows.

Enclosures: copy of the RTI application; copy of the PIO reply,
if any; proof of fee paid.

Yours faithfully,
[Name]
[Address and contact]

05The second appeal to the Information Commission

If the FAA does not fix the problem, or does not decide, you can file a second appeal under Section 19(3) to the Central Information Commission (CIC) or the relevant State Information Commission (SIC), depending on whether the public authority is under the central or a state government.

The second appeal must be filed within 90 days from the date the FAA decision was made or should have been made. The Commission can hear the matter, direct disclosure, and impose a penalty on a PIO who refused information without reasonable cause. There is generally no fee for a second appeal before the CIC. For the combined first and second appeal process in one place, see how to file an RTI first and second appeal.

06The separate complaint route under Section 18

There is a different route, a complaint under Section 18, directly to the Information Commission. Use it for serious failures, such as a PIO refusing to receive your application, or where no PIO was appointed.

A complaint is not the same as an appeal. The Commission can inquire and penalise, but a complaint generally cannot by itself order the information to be given in the way a second appeal can. So for most information refusals, the appeal route, first appeal then second appeal, is the stronger path.

07Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

RTI appeals, and the writ petitions that sometimes follow in the High Court, turn on how Information Commissions and courts have read the exemptions and the duty to disclose. Claw lets you search 30 crore+ judgments, with Supreme Court decisions from 1950 and High Court decisions from 1990, to find how courts have treated RTI refusals and exemptions like the one you face, with results in under 5 seconds. It also tracks cases, orders and hearings across 9,102 courts, benches and forums, so an advocate can follow an RTI writ petition by party name and get the next date without scanning cause lists. Claw does not use your case documents to train its AI models.

Create a FREE Claw account to track an RTI writ matter by party name, and use case search across Indian courts to find RTI judgments on your issue.

08Sources and further reading

• RTI Online (central RTI portal): rtionline.gov.in
• Central Information Commission: cic.gov.in
• India Code (Right to Information Act, 2005): indiacode.nic.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Fees and procedure vary by public authority and by state, so check the rules that apply to your case.

09Frequently asked questions