No reply to your RTI? First appeal and second appeal explained

When can you appeal?

• No reply arrived within 30 days.
• Information was refused, or was wrong or incomplete.
• You were asked for more fee than the rules allow.

First appeal

This is a letter to the First Appellate Authority (FAA), an officer senior to the PIO in the same office. File it within 30 days of the date the reply was due or was received (Section 19(1)). The FAA generally decides within 30 days and at most 45 days. The Tamil Nadu online RTI site also lets you file a first appeal; you need the registration number and email ID of the original application.

Second appeal

If the first appeal does not help, you can petition the Tamil Nadu Information Commission within 90 days of the date the decision was due or was received (Section 19(3)). A complaint that a PIO obstructed information can also be made to the Commission under Section 18.

To:
The First Appellate Authority,
[Office name], [Town]

Subject: First appeal under Section 19(1) of the RTI Act, 2005.

1. On [date] I applied to [PIO name/designation], [office] (acknowledgement/registration No. ____).
2. I received no reply within 30 days / I received a reply but I am not satisfied because ____.
3. I request that the PIO be directed to provide the information sought.

Enclosures: copy of the original application, acknowledgement, the reply (if any).

Place:
Date:
Signature: