The Print: Mumbai: Saturday, 27 June 2026.
Maharashtra govt has raised RTI application fee & charges for appeals. New rules also require applicants to upload their IDs, which critics say would make whistleblowers vulnerable.
The amendments effected by
the Maharashtra government in RTI rules has triggered a wave of objections
across the state, with anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare threatening to go
on a hunger strike if they are not withdrawn, and some civil society members
serving a legal notice on the chief secretary.
The amendments in the RTI rules the Central Right to Information Act allows states to frame rules on certain aspects while keeping the Act’s substantive provisions intact are related to application and appeals fee hike. Also, applicants are now required to upload their photo IDs.
Anna Hazare has termed the new rules “illegal” and threatened to launch an indefinite hunger strike from 5 July if the Maharashtra government does not immediately withdraw.
Hazare has written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, saying the Maharashtra Right to Information Rules, 2026, would “blunt the edge” of the RTI Act and block people’s access to information.
Hazare said the rules shift the burden onto citizens instead of fixing systemic failures. He noted that Section 4 of the RTI Act, which mandates proactive disclosure by public authorities, remains poorly implemented, forcing people to file applications.
Meanwhile, a legal notice has been sent by activists and former information officials such as ex-Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi, advocate Prahlad Kachare, RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar, journalist Vinita Deshmukh, civil rights activists Vivek Velankar, Jugal Rathi and Mohammed Afzal and other citizens who claimed the new rules could discourage whistleblowers, journalists, information-seekers from using RTI.
These activists say they would also move the Bombay High Court if the rules are not withdrawn within 15 days.
“These amendments are directly opposing the main law. Certain provisions don’t come under their (state government’s) purview. These provisions contradict the main Act. Hence, we have sent a notice to the government,” RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar told ThePrint.
ThePrint reached out to the state’s chief secretary (to whom the legal notice is addressed) via email for a comment, but there was no response. The report will be updated if and when there is a response.
The amendments
Earlier this month, the Maharashtra government issued a notification amending certain provisions under the RTI Rules, 2005, with new rules under the Maharashtra Right to Information Rules, 2026. The changes would be implemented from 5 July.
Among the changes, the revised fee structure has drawn the sharpest criticism from activists. The application fee has been hiked from Rs 10 to Rs 30, photocopy charges from Rs 2 to Rs 5 per A4 page, and digital copies, earlier provided free of cost, will now be charged at Rs 5 per page.
Also, the fees for first and second appeals have gone to Rs 50 and Rs 100, respectively.
Hazare said that there was no rationale or financial analysis done to increase the fee structures “RTI is not a revenue-generating law. If fees are raised after 20 years, penalties on officers who deny information should also be increased.”.
Besides, the mandatory upload of the self attested photo id along with the RTI application, which was not required earlier has also been objected to.
Activists say that this will put the life of activists and whistleblowers in danger.
Another provision includes “one subject per application’ and it imposes a 150 word limit what Hazare describes as unnecessary and burdensome and that the provision to summarily close repeat applications would block access to complete or updated information.
What other activists object to
The legal notice sent by the activists and public intellectuals, accessed by ThePrint, says, “The cumulative effect of these provisions is to make access to information significantly more expensive and less accessible.”
The notice further states that, “Several provisions of the Maharashtra Right to Information Rules, 2026 appear to have been framed not for carrying out the provisions of the RTI Act but for restricting, discouraging and burdening the exercise of rights conferred by the Act. The cumulative effect of the Rules is to make access to information more expensive, more technical and more cumbersome than contemplated by Parliament.”
“It is a settled principle of law that delegated legislation must remain within the confines of the parent enactment and cannot override, dilute, restrict, defeat or impose substantive conditions upon rights conferred by Parliament. Rules are intended to carry out the Act and not to stifle the Act,” the notice says.
The activists have demanded these new rules be withdrawn immediately and a transparent and meaningful public consultation process involving RTI users, former information commissioners, journalists, activists, civil society members , legal experts conducted before framing new provisions or any rules.
“The government has not yet responded but just like any other government, we don’t expect them to respond to us and our next step is to go to the Bombay High Court,” said Kumbhar.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Maharashtra govt has raised RTI application fee & charges for appeals. New rules also require applicants to upload their IDs, which critics say would make whistleblowers vulnerable.
The amendments in the RTI rules the Central Right to Information Act allows states to frame rules on certain aspects while keeping the Act’s substantive provisions intact are related to application and appeals fee hike. Also, applicants are now required to upload their photo IDs.
Anna Hazare has termed the new rules “illegal” and threatened to launch an indefinite hunger strike from 5 July if the Maharashtra government does not immediately withdraw.
Hazare has written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, saying the Maharashtra Right to Information Rules, 2026, would “blunt the edge” of the RTI Act and block people’s access to information.
Hazare said the rules shift the burden onto citizens instead of fixing systemic failures. He noted that Section 4 of the RTI Act, which mandates proactive disclosure by public authorities, remains poorly implemented, forcing people to file applications.
Meanwhile, a legal notice has been sent by activists and former information officials such as ex-Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi, advocate Prahlad Kachare, RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar, journalist Vinita Deshmukh, civil rights activists Vivek Velankar, Jugal Rathi and Mohammed Afzal and other citizens who claimed the new rules could discourage whistleblowers, journalists, information-seekers from using RTI.
These activists say they would also move the Bombay High Court if the rules are not withdrawn within 15 days.
“These amendments are directly opposing the main law. Certain provisions don’t come under their (state government’s) purview. These provisions contradict the main Act. Hence, we have sent a notice to the government,” RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar told ThePrint.
ThePrint reached out to the state’s chief secretary (to whom the legal notice is addressed) via email for a comment, but there was no response. The report will be updated if and when there is a response.
The amendments
Earlier this month, the Maharashtra government issued a notification amending certain provisions under the RTI Rules, 2005, with new rules under the Maharashtra Right to Information Rules, 2026. The changes would be implemented from 5 July.
Among the changes, the revised fee structure has drawn the sharpest criticism from activists. The application fee has been hiked from Rs 10 to Rs 30, photocopy charges from Rs 2 to Rs 5 per A4 page, and digital copies, earlier provided free of cost, will now be charged at Rs 5 per page.
Also, the fees for first and second appeals have gone to Rs 50 and Rs 100, respectively.
Hazare said that there was no rationale or financial analysis done to increase the fee structures “RTI is not a revenue-generating law. If fees are raised after 20 years, penalties on officers who deny information should also be increased.”.
Besides, the mandatory upload of the self attested photo id along with the RTI application, which was not required earlier has also been objected to.
Activists say that this will put the life of activists and whistleblowers in danger.
Another provision includes “one subject per application’ and it imposes a 150 word limit what Hazare describes as unnecessary and burdensome and that the provision to summarily close repeat applications would block access to complete or updated information.
What other activists object to
The legal notice sent by the activists and public intellectuals, accessed by ThePrint, says, “The cumulative effect of these provisions is to make access to information significantly more expensive and less accessible.”
The notice further states that, “Several provisions of the Maharashtra Right to Information Rules, 2026 appear to have been framed not for carrying out the provisions of the RTI Act but for restricting, discouraging and burdening the exercise of rights conferred by the Act. The cumulative effect of the Rules is to make access to information more expensive, more technical and more cumbersome than contemplated by Parliament.”
“It is a settled principle of law that delegated legislation must remain within the confines of the parent enactment and cannot override, dilute, restrict, defeat or impose substantive conditions upon rights conferred by Parliament. Rules are intended to carry out the Act and not to stifle the Act,” the notice says.
The activists have demanded these new rules be withdrawn immediately and a transparent and meaningful public consultation process involving RTI users, former information commissioners, journalists, activists, civil society members , legal experts conducted before framing new provisions or any rules.
“The government has not yet responded but just like any other government, we don’t expect them to respond to us and our next step is to go to the Bombay High Court,” said Kumbhar.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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