Details regarding annual accounts & public disclosures made related to life insurance companies was sought - Actuary’s Annual Report denied u/s 8(1)(d) - CIC: recheck the actuarial report of any one company to see if it can be disclosed in public interest
13 Feb, 2014Details regarding annual accounts and public disclosures made related to all the life insurance companies was sought - PIO provided the website link - FAA denied Appointed Actuary’s Annual Report u/s 8(1)(d) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; - PIO: recheck the actuarial report of any one company and assess whether any additional information can be disclosed in public interest which would not harm any commercial confidence of the third party; Annual accounts and Public disclosures are already in the public domain and the web route of the same has been already provided; appellant’s grievance, if any may be taken at the suitable forum
ORDER
Facts:
1. The appellant Shri Rakesh Kumar Gupta has submitted RTI application dated 5 December 2012 before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), IRDA, Hyderabad seeking details regarding annual accounts and public disclosures made related to all the life insurance companies in soft form (DVD).
2. Vide CPIO order dated 1 January 2013, the appellant was provided the website link, where the information is available.
3. In the meantime, the appellant preferred first appeal dated 31 December 2012 to the First Appellate Authority (FAA).
4. Vide FAA order dated 14 February 2013, CPIO’s order was upheld and appellant was further informed that the Appointed Actuary’s Annual Report may not be disclosed under section 8(1)(d) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; of the RTI Act.
5. Being aggrieved and not being satisfied by the above response of the public authority, the appellant preferred second appeal before the Commission.
6. The matter was heard today. Shri R. K Gupta made submissions through audio conferencing. The respondents Shri D. N. K Chakravarty CPIO (Actuarial Department) and Shri Ammu Venkatramana, CPIO (Finance and Accounts Department) were present and made submissions from Hyderabad via videoconferencing.
7. The appellant submitted that the information sought by him in a DVD (soft form) regarding the annual accounts and public disclosures has not been provided to him. It was also submitted that the information regarding the Actuarial reports of all the companies as held with the IRDA has also been not provided till date. The appellant further submitted that he is not comfortable with the computer system hence he would be requiring the information in a DVD (soft form) regarding the annual accounts and public disclosures of the companies, so that he can access the same over a computer system, however if he can read a DVD it is presumed he is reasonably computer literate and can access the public authority’s web site.
8. Further, appellant alleged that the companies are misleading their respective customers and retaining the major amounts by transferring lapsed policies amount to their account. Hence the information relating to all the Actuaries’ reports of all the companies as held with the IRDA is required by him.
9. The respondents submitted that the information regarding the annual accounts and public disclosures is already in the public domain and the web route of the same has been already provided to the appellant.
10. The disclosure of Actuarial reports of various companies contain sensitive information and would attract Section 8(1)(d) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; of the RTI Act as the same would affect the commercial secrets/Intellectual property of the third party i.e. respective companies. Information under the Actuarial reports are very company specific information, which includes analysis of businesses, experience and conduct of business, analysis and distribution of surpluses, conclusion of the Actuary on the basis of the Analysis etc.
11. Even as per rule, IRDA never discloses such reports of one company to the other company(s). However, information such as the no. of policies, etc which can be disclosed and is already in public domain.
Decision Notice
12. The Commission has heard both the parties in detail and it endorses the submission made by the respondents in the present case. Disclosure of Actuarial reports of various companies would attract Section 8(1)(d) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; of the RTI Act as the same would affect the commercial secrets/Intellectual property of the third party i.e. respective companies. However, respondents agreed to recheck the actuarial report of any one company for the last year i.e. 20-12-13 and assess whether any additional information can be disclosed in public interest which would not harm any commercial confidence of the third party. The CPIO is given 21 days time for such an exercise to be conducted and thereby suitably informing the outcome to the appellant in writing. It is further clarified that this exercise is pertaining to the present case only.
13. Regarding the Annual accounts and Public disclosures, appellant is informed that the same is already in the public domain and the web route of the same has been already provided to him. Hence the CPIOs decision is upheld.
14. Appellant’s grievance, if any may be taken at the suitable forum.
(Manjula Prasher)
Information Commissioner
Citation: Shri Rakesh Kumar Gupta v. IRDA in Appeal: No. CIC/DS/A/2013/000374/MP