No penalty for delay caused due to a large number of RTI applications

Background

The PIO had been directed by the Central Information Commission to appear before it and explain why there was a delay of 21 days in providing the information. The PIO explained that around the same time when the appellant’s RTI application was received, a very large number of such requests had been received from the candidates who had appeared in the recruitment tests conducted by the bank. The Cell of the bank responsible for holding the information was overwhelmed with such large number of requests and took a lot of time in collecting and providing information to the PIO. The PIO pleaded that the delay was not willful or intentional and that all efforts had been made to gather the information in time.

View of the CIC

The Central Information Commission held that if a very large number of RTI requests for similar information are received in quick succession, it would put a lot of pressure on the officials holding and processing such information. The Commission accepted the explanation offered by the PIO holding that even though information should be provided within the stipulated period of 30 days, the delay is understandable. The Commission did not impose any penalty on the PIO while advising him to keep the time limits in mind in future.

Citation: Shri Ashwani Kumar Awasthi v. Canara Bank in file no. CIC/SM/A/2011/000424