Over 17.5 lakh RTI applications filed during 2023-24: Centre

New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) Over 17.5 lakh applications were filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act during 2023-24, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

Of the total 17,50,863 such applications filed, 67,615 were rejected and 14,30,031 were answered, according to a data shared by the Union minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh in a written reply.

During 2022-23, 16,38,784 RTI applications were filed. Of these, 52,662 were rejected and 13,15,222 were answered, it said.

According to the data, 14,21,226 such applications were filed in 2021-22, of which 53,733 were rejected and 11,31,757 were answered.

It further said 13,33,802 and 13,74,315 RTI applications were filed in 2020-21 and 2019-20 respectively.

To a query seeking numbers of applications "with no answer or denied information", Singh said, "The Central Information Commission (CIC) has informed that no such data is compiled by them." In a separate reply, he said the one-time password (OTP) feature was launched in the RTI online portal on January 2 to authenticate the users and protect sensitive personal information.

By ensuring only authorised access, the measure strengthens cyber security and aligns with the best practices, the minister said.

"OTPs are promptly dispatched from the NIC email domains. However, due to reasons such as congestion in the receiver's network, connectivity issues in the network being used by the users' service provider etc, the delivery of OTPs may take more time in some cases," he said.

However, the OTPs do not expire until they are used, thereby enabling the users to access their account as soon as the OTP arrives, Singh said.

"The RTI online portal is designed, hosted and maintained by the NIC unit of the DoPT (department of personnel and training). The NIC has informed that 27,57,506 OTPs were generated for email verification up to 28.11.2025," he added. PTI AKV AKV KSS KSS