In last 10 months, 90 per cent of RTI requests filed online

New Delhi: Ten months after the online system of filing RTIs was introduced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, at least 90 per cent of the total number of Right to Information (RTI) requests with different departments were filed using the new system.

According to data, of the total 20,276 RTI application were received by different departments since the launch of the online option, 18,582 were filed online, while only 1,688 were filed by post and other means.

The data collated is from July 10, 2017, the day when the system was launched by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, to May 4, 2018.

Under the online system, an RTI request or application can be filed with around 190 departments and autonomous bodies under the Delhi government, by paying a nominal fee of Rs 10 and it can be done round the clock, thereby making the process simpler.

The government received as much as Rs 118,520 as RTI fee in the same period, according to the data. One of the officials responsible for the implementation of the online RTI system said that the government had saved money on postal charges as most RTI replies are  now sent online.

“We are working on the users’ option to create accounts similar to central government RTI system and are also planning to put up online questions asked under RTI,” the officer said.

A senior government officer said the monitoring and management of RTI requests had become easier online. The officer further said that earlier the RTI fee paid went to different departments. But now it goes to only one account of the Delhi government.

And the consolidated amount (fee) can be used for something useful, he added. The Delhi government launched the online system with as many as 173 public authorities and now the general public can file RTI requests or applications online with around 190 government departments.