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BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS DDG (HP) SECTION

Our Ref: Ref: DDG (HP)/RTI-TO/G 16 September 2013 Subject: Guidelines for implementation of the provisions of RTI Act, 2005 CPIOs and FAAs who have recently been appointed shall study the Act carefully and understand its provisions correctly. For their convenience and continued implementation of the Act in BIS, guidelines have been prepared and issued. Further, in case of any query, the undersigned or Shri N. K. Sharma, Scientist E (HMD) may be contacted. A. K. Sen DDG (HP) & Transparency Officer, BIS All offices/departments of BIS

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Procedure for dealing with RTI Applications received in various offices/departments of BIS as per RTI Act 2005

1. On receipt of each RTI application, concerned Central Public Information

Officers (CPIO) shall take following actions:

i) Ensure that each application is accompanied with application fee of Rs 10/- by way of IPO/Bank Draft/Cash deposited against receipt. Payment of fee by any other means is not acceptable. In some parts of India where rules provide for depositing the RTI fee by means of court fee etc, fee may be accepted as per existing rules. BPL cardholders are exempted from paying any fee.

ii) CPIO shall register such applications on receipt of the application

fees which are connected fully or partly to his/her jurisdiction. The registration number shall be as given below:

Name of Department or Office / RTI / Year – Month – Sl. no.

For example, to the first application received in HRD in Sept 2013, the number allocated shall be as HMD/RTI/1309001. iii) If some queries in the application are also related to any other department(s), a copy of the application may be forwarded immediately to the latter department(s) with a note in the format given at Annexure 1. iv) CPIO receiving any application which is related to BIS but outside his/her jurisdiction, shall forward such application along with the fee to the concerned CPIO for taking required action. An appropriate record shall be maintained by the CPIO forwarding such application. v) CPIO receiving an application which is related to some other Public Authority, shall receive the application fee, register and then transfer it, as per Section 6 (3) of the RTI Act, to the concerned Public Authority within 5 days under intimation to the applicant.

vi) In case an application is received which is related partly to BIS and partly to some other Public Authority, the information connected to BIS shall be provided by the CPIO and the application shall be transferred to the connected Public Authority for providing information on remaining queries. A copy of such letter shall also be endorsed to the applicant.

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2. After registration of the application, CPIO shall examine the application in respect of the various provisions of RTI Act 2005 especially the following clauses:

i) Preamble - The Act gives the right to information to the citizen of India. It does not make provision for giving information to a person who is not citizen, e.g., legal entity such as corporation, association, company, etc. However, information may be supplied, in case application is signed by an employee or office bearer of any corporation, association, company, NGO, etc., indicating his name. In such cases it would be presumed that a citizen has sought information at the address of Corporation etc.

ii) Chapter 1 Clause 2 (f) – definition of “information” and Section 2 (j), ‘Right to Information’ - Only such information is required to be supplied under the Act which already exists and is held by the public authority or held under the control of Public authority. It is not required under the Act to create information, or to interpret information or to solve the problems raised by the applicants or to furnish replies to hypothetical questions. It may be noted that while deciding an appeal Central Information Commission observed that collection of information cannot amount to creation of information.

iii) Chapter 2 Clause 7 (1) through 7(9) - CPIO on receipt of a request under section 6 shall as expeditiously as possible, and in any case within thirty days of the receipt of the request, either provide the information on payment of such fee as may be prescribed or reject the request for any of the reason specified in section 8 and 9. If CPIO fails to give decision on the request for information within 30 days, the CPIO shall be deemed to have refused the request.

3. While examining an application, CPIO shall reject such queries which seek

information that is exempted from disclosure under section 8 or section 9 of the Act. CPIO, however, shall collect information, which is not exempted from disclosure, from his/her department and provide it to the information seeker immediately or latest in 30 days.

The letter to be sent to the RTI applicant either supplying information or

intimating rejection of a request shall communicate the period within which appeal can be made and the particulars of the authority to which appeal can be made. If a request has been rejected, reasons for such rejection shall also be communicated. A model letter is enclosed at Annexure 2.

In case a RTI application requires certain information which has been

supplied to BIS by a third party treating that information confidential, as

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per section 7(7), before taking any decision to provide information, CPIO shall take into consideration the representation made by the third party as per section 11. A notice shall be issued to the third party within 5 days from the date of receipt of the application. A model notice is given in Annexure 3.

When asking for additional fee for providing the information, calculation made to arrive at the amount of fees being asked shall also be communicated in addition to the period within which appeal can be made and the particulars of the authority to which appeal can be made.

4. As per Section 2 (j), ‘Right to Information’ inter alia covers right to

inspection of work, documents, records; and, taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records. Therefore, inspection of files under RTI Act 2005 can be allowed. While doing so, CPIO shall:

i) Intimate date, place and time of inspection to the applicant. ii) Ensure that the file given for inspection is duly page numbered. iii) Maintain a record indicating the name of the applicant, time taken for inspection, page numbers for which copies were requested. iv) Charge fee for inspection as per RTI Rules 2012 i.e. no fee for first hour of inspection and Rs 5/- per hour for subsequent hours. If photocopies are requested, additional fee as per rules is also to be levied. v) Ensure the safety of files and that the same is not tampered during inspection e.g. it may be ensured that inspection is done without pen, knife, paper cutter etc. so that nothing is added, deleted or removed from the file. One officer/ responsible staff shall preferably be present during inspection to keep a watch on the proceedings and also to enable the information seeker for expeditious inspection.

5. Deciding appeals under the RTI Act is a quasi-judicial function. It is,

therefore, necessary that the appellate authority should see to it that the justice is not only done but it should also appear to have been done. In order to do so, the appellant should be given hearing before passing an order, which should be a speaking order giving justification for the decision arrived at. Appeal should be disposed of in 30 days.

It is necessary that all CPIOs and First Appellate Authorities apprise themselves of the various provisions of the RTI Act 2005, RTI Rules 2012 and various guidelines issued by DOPT. The purpose of providing above procedure is just to bring uniformity in implementation of RTI Act across BIS.

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SAMPLE FORMAT

ANNEXURE 1

HMD

Ref: HMD/RTI/1309001 DATE-------------------- 1. A RTI Application has been received by HMD on 16-09-2013 (enclosed as C-1) seeking information under RTI ACT 2005. 2. The Application Fee of Rs.10/- has been deposited. 3. Application number has been allotted as 1309001. 4. It is requested to provide information in duly certified C-sheets (continuation sheets) in terms of queries relating to your department and ensuring that: i) Information is provided w.r.t. each query related to your department. ii) Information is to be given in the Question Answer form (by reproducing the Question(s) before the answer). iii) Each page is duly certified by signing the reply along with stamp by of information provider. iv) A soft copy of the reply may be provided at the email address at hallmarking@bis.org.in. 5. In case, you feel that information is more closely related to another department, kindly forward this note to that department within two working days with a copy to HMD. 6. The correctness/accuracy of the information to be sent to the information seeker has to be ensured by the concerned department providing the information. 7. Necessary information may kindly be provided urgently, ON PRIORITY, preferebly within two weeks of issue of this note sheet.

(Name & Designation of CPIO) CPIO (HMD)

CPIO( )

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SAMPLE FORMAT

ANNEXURE 2

Ref: HMD/RTI/1309001 DATE------------- Subject: Information under RTI Act, 2005 Shri Deepak kumar Yadav House No. 32-R, Model Town Rewari- 123401 Haryana Dear Sir, Please refer to your RTI application dated 10-11-2011 received in BIS on 25-11-2011 seeking information under RTI Act 2005. Desired information with respect to your query is as follows: Q: I am running Tyre Retread Factory and want information on procedure to take BIS for Retreaded Truck and Buses Tyres processed by me. Ans: (i) Please purchase Indian Standard IS 15704:2006- Automotive Vehicles –Retreaded Pneumatic Tyres for Commercial vehicles-Specifications. Read it thoroughly and understand various requirements of the Standard. (ii) In case your product fulfills the requirements of the Standard and you have set up the laboratory to assess the conformity of your product to the IS: 15704:2006 please read the procedure available on our website and apply accordingly to the Branch Office under which your factory is located. In case you are not satisfied with the information provided, you are free to appeal to the Appellate Authority (Name and Address of Appellate Authority) within 30 days from the date of receipt of this letter. Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

(Name of CPIO) CPIO (HMD)

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SAMPLE FORMAT

ANNEXURE 3

Ref: HMD/RTI/1309001 DATE------------- (Name & Address of the Third Party) Dear Sir / Madam Sub: Disclosure of information under the Right to Information Act 1. This is to inform you that an applicant has requested for the following Information under the Right to Information Act, 2005 [Please Describe] (i)…………………………………………………………………………………………… (ii)………………………………………………………………………………………… 2. With reference to the application referred to above, the undersigned intends to disclose the following information relating to you/supplied by you – treated as confidential to the applicant: (i)…………………………………………………………………………………………… (ii)………………………………………………………………………………………… You are hereby notified to make a submission in writing or orally regarding whether the information proposed to be disclosed should be disclosed to the applicant or not within 10 days from the date of receipt of this notice, failing which the information will be disclosed. 3. In case you intend to prefer an appeal against the decision of the undersigned, as per Section 19 (2) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, you may do so to the following Appellate Authority, within 30 days of the order. Name & Designation of Appellate Authority: Address of the Authority:

Sincerely,

Signature of CPIO Name & Designation of the CPIO