Chennai: The state government will consult the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNSIC) on an RTI activist’s demand to incorporate more options, including postal orders, court fee stamp and revenue stamp as modes of payment of the fee for providing information under the RTI Act.
Activist cum advocate N. Viswanathan had petitioned the government seeking an amendment in the act to incorporate more modes of payment citing difficulty in the present prescribed modes, such as cash, demand draft, cheque and money order.
“Most of the public information officers are not authorised to receive cash in their office. Hence, the applicants are made to run from pillar to post for making the payment at some other designated place, where they demand authorisation to receive the fee,” he said.
He also complained that bank officials were reluctant to prepare the DD because of the lengthy account head, which is hard to be accommodated in the available space.
RTI activist V. Gopalakrishnan said West Bengal, Gujarat and Bihar governments were accepting a postal order, court fee stamp, revenue stamp, pay order, non-judicial paper and electronically enabled medium for the additional fee.
When asked about his views on including more modes of payment for further fees, Chief Information Commissioner of TNSIC K. S. Sripathi said that he could not give his views as the state government was the competent authority to act on it.
Further, Sripathi pointed out that the state government was quite proactive and that it would make changes and improve its functioning wherever necessary.
