Alert citizen uses RTI to nail postal delay

 Anil Singh,  13 February 2010

MUMBAI: Millions crib about snail mail but one aggrieved
consumer used the Right To Information Act (RTI)
to hold the postal departmentaccountable for delay
and to refund aggrieved customers promptly




Thanks to Dahisar resident Kishanlal Mittal, the Secretary, 
Department of Posts, has been told to issue instructions to
make it mandatory for every Speed Post Centre in the
country to prominently display its delivery norms.

The instructions came in an order by Central Information 
Commissioner (CIC) Deepak Sandhu on January 27, 2010.

The bureaucrat heading the postal department has also been
directed to ensure that there are adequate telephone lines and
manpower available to takecomplaints on telephone.
Emails should be responded to promptly with an assurance
that the complaint will be resolved in 7-10 days, says the order.

To ensure that the customer is not made to run from pillar
to post for the refund, the order says that the booking centre
should inform the complainant regarding his refund and ensure
that he\she does not have to make multiple trips to the post
office to lodge a complaint and claim refund.

Mittal's experience is that 90 % of parcels sent by
Speed Post reach late and that one has to wait for
six months to get a refund for delayed delivery.

He is not the only one to say that. Last year, Mahim resident 

Milind Mulay found out using the RTI that 

27,774 Speed Post items booked from the

Western suburbs of Mumbai did not reach addresses

in Mumbai in time.

Last August, when an important document Mittal had sent to
Kanpur by Speed Post reached four days late, he used the
RTI to seek answers for questions pertaining to delivery norms
of Speed Post, grievance redressal mechanism and refund in
case of delayed delivery.

Since he was not satisfied by the answers he got from the
central principal information officer, Mittal appealed to the
first appellate authority. Here, too, he was disappointed with
the reply and the matter went to the
Central Information Commission, New Delhi.

On January 27, a hearing was held through video conferencing,
where Mittal was represented by his son, Girish. Girish
complained that Speed Post centres across the country
do not display their delivery norms.

Agreeing with him, CIC Deepak Sandhu said that there
is a wide gap between promise and performance when it
comes to Speed Post. She noted in her order that while the
customer is charged the full fees for an upgraded service,
the exact nature of the service is not made transparent to him\her.

The secretary, department of posts, has been told to
ensure compliance of the order in accordance with
section 25(5) of the RTI Act, 2005.

How the law works ?


The secretary, department of posts, has been told by the 

Central Information Commissioner Deepak Sandhu to ensure 

compliance of her order in accordance with section 25(5) of the RTI Act, 2005.

This section says: ``If it appears to the Central Information Commission or
State Information Commission, as the case may be, that the practice of a
public authority in relation to the exercise of its functions under this Act
does not conform with the provisions or spirit of this Act,
it may give to the authority a recommendation specifying the
steps which ought, in its opinion, to be taken for promoting such conformity.''

ONLINE RTI APPLICATIONS FOR NRIS!

New Delhi, February 15, 2010
Deccan Herald


 

To make it easy for NRIs to file RTI applications, 

the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has asked

government departments to provide a link on their websites

for receiving online applications and appeals.

The ministry has written to Department of Personnel and Training,

nodal department for RTI affairs and Ministry of External Affairs to 

make guidelines in this regard and make necessary changes in the Act.

Its website has a link facilitating reception of online applications.

According to the proposal mooted by the ministry, 

an NRI will now be able to deposit Rs 10 as RTI fee in

the equivalent local currency at the Indian Mission abroad 

and send their application through email to the concerned 

public information officer informing about deposit of fee.

"NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) are entitled to seek information

from Ministries/Departments of Government of India/States

under the RTI Act. 

 In the absence of appropriate arrangement

of deposit of requisite fee, they are finding it difficult to seek information,"

G Gurucharan, Joint Secretary at the 

Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs wrote to DoPT.

It was a difficult task for the NRIs to file RTI applications 

seeking information, as there is no mechanism for online

applications. The deposit of fee was also a difficult matter

as there is no provision in the Act for submitting it in the 

currency of any othercountry.

Now, NRIs submit their RTI applications at Indian missions

abroad which forward it to officials concerned but fee was 

accepted only in Indian currency. The fee can be paid either

in cash or in valid instruments like postal order, demand draft etc.

It was difficult for NRIs to arrange such instrument abroad

leaving them no option but to physically go to the Indian 

mission and submit fee in cash along with application.

An RTI applicant Commodore Lokesh Batra made a 

complaint before the Central Information Commission highlighting the plight of NRIs.

Batra had also raised the issue during the annual

convention convened by the Commission in October

last year, which elicited positive reaction from activists 

and commissioners. After getting complaint from Batra

, the Commission had sought views of the Ministry of 

Overseas Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs.

The Ministry of Overseas Affairs in its submission said, 

"payment of fee for seeking information has to be decided

by the Ministry of External Affairs...As regards first and 

second appeal from abroad, matter has been taken up 

with the Department of Personnel and Training".