Table of Contents
Excessive fee calculation — §7(3) — CIC
Central Information Commission · 2019-01-01 · Citation awaited
Inflated copy-fees under §7(3) = constructive refusal; directly appealable under §19(1).
Case details
| Court | Central Information Commission |
|---|---|
| Decided | 2019-01-01 |
| Citation | Citation awaited |
| Petitioner | RTI applicant |
| Respondent | PIO |
| RTI Act sections | §7(3) |
| Outcome | Applicant allowed |
Outcome
A PIO demanding unjustified copy-fees treated as constructive refusal; applicant may appeal under §19.
Ratio decidendi
When a PIO intimates a copy-fee that is grossly disproportionate to the reasonable photocopy cost — e.g., Rs 500 per page — that amounts to a constructive refusal. The applicant may seek review under §7(3) proviso or directly file a First Appeal under §19(1) treating the inflated fee as a de facto denial.
Keywords
copy fees, §7(3), CIC, constructive refusal
Similar cases in the corpus
These rulings have the closest editorial ratio to this case — computed by tf-idf cosine similarity over ratio, keywords and Act sections. Useful starting points if you are researching the same point of law.
- PIO silence as deemed refusal — Bombay HC (HC-BOM 2014)
- §11 third-party cost-bearing — CIC (CIC 2019)
- Board-examination records — Delhi HC (HC-DEL 2019)
- Inspection charges — Delhi HC (HC-DEL 2014)
Related
Editorial summary, not a certified report. The ratio here is an editorial compression. Before citing this ruling in a PIO order, FAA speaking order, or any appellate filing, verify against the full reported decision. RTI Wiki is not a legal service.
Editorial summary · last reviewed 21 April 2026.
Discussion