DESIGNATED OFFICERS

The designated officers related to RTI Act are Public Information Officer (PIO), First Appellate Authority (FAA), and Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). So, it is important to know about the roles of those designated officers. First, one should file the RTI to the Public Information Officer if any problem arises and then the applicant can file to the higher authority. The responsibilities of the CPIO and SPIO are the same.

Primarily a PIO works as the receiver of the RTI applications from the public and provider of the information to the public. In the offline procedure, an APIO works as an assistant to the PIO.
An FAA works as a collector of information with the help of the PIO i.e. the first appeal lies with the First Appellate Authority.
The CIC works as a verifier of the works of the PIO and the FAA i.e. the second appeal lies with the CIC.

The detailed roles of the PIO, the FAA, and the CIC are given below -

ROLES OF ASSISTANT PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER (APIO)

APIO is the assistant of the PIO whose action is directly found for the offline application.

Collect the application from the public.

Forward the application to Public Information Officer.

ROLES OF THE PIO

Receive the applications to make records.
After receiving the application, the PIO has a responsibility to check the court fee of the application or whether the applicant belongs to a below poverty line (BPL) family. If the application is not accompanied by the prescribed fee or certificate the application becomes invalid.
Find the information according to the queries of the applicant.
For the information, the PIO deals with the FAA and send the complete information to the CIC.
Reply within the time limits according to the given information to the applicant after getting it from the CIC.
Checking the subject matter of the application

If the subject matter is under section-8 i.e. under exemption the application will be rejected.
The PIO will be responsible to communicate to the person about the reasons for rejection if the application is under the exemption.
If the additional fee is required to be paid by the applicant the PIO should inform the details of the further fee required to be paid.
If some parts of the subject matter concern various public authorities the PIO should transfer the copy of the application to those public authorities within 5 days from the date of receipt of the application. In that case, the applicant can get a response late.
If the public authority fails to comply with the specified time limits the information has to be provided to the applicant free of charge.

ROLES OF THE FAA

The First Appellate Authority functions with the PIO to discover the information.
If an applicant does not get any information from the PIO he /she can apply the application to the FAA. In that case, the FAA functions as the PIO.
Then find the complete information and send it to the CIC.
Responsible to give responses to the applicant.

ROLES OF THE CIC

The CIC is the highest designated officer who has the most responsibilities about the RTI Act to make an annual report. One also can apply the RTI to the CIC but if the information is under exemption the information cannot be replied to.
Order for the inquiry into any matter on reasonable grounds only.
Receive and inquire into a complaint from any person like

A person who has not received any response to his/her application
A person who has complained after getting incomplete or incorrect or unsatisfied information
The commissioner has the power to examine any record under the control of the public authority.

ROLES OF CABINET SECRETARIAT AND NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SECRETARIAT

The importance of the Cabinet Secretariat and National Security Council Secretariat on RTI is to furnish the reply. The application is sent to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) but it is also transferred to the Cabinet Secretariat and National Security Council Secretariat to furnish the response.

ROLES OF THIRD PARTY

Third-Party means a person other than the citizen and included in a public authority. A person can apply RTI through a Third-party when he/she wants to know about the details or activities of others because the information cannot be provided until the third-party consents to the disclosure. So, the applicant should request the third party’s consent and the CPIO will also produce a written request to the third party. The applicant gets a response late, and the applicant will receive his /her response from the third party. The disclosure of Third-party information depends on larger public interest or the merits of the case. The PIO will obviously search the merit in the submission of the third party if no merit of the submission is found the PIO will disclose the information to the applicant but if the information is under the exemption it may not be disclosed. In some cases, a third-party is not allowed.

To get more information click the links given below-

PENALTIES OF DESIGNATED OFFICERS

RTI IN PROVIDENT FUND AND ESIC CASES

FILING RTI IN CASE OF PROPERTY MATTER

RTI FILING IN EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES & COMPETITIVE EXAMINATIONS

CONTROVERSIAL FACTS UNDER THE RTI ACT, 2005

SOME CASES RELATES TO EXEMPTION OF RTI ACT, 2005

USE AND MISUSE OF THE RTI ACT

ROLES OF DESIGNATED OFFICERS

BASIC INFORMATION OF THE RTI ACT

PROCESS OF FILING RTI ACT

RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT AT A GLANCE