Citizens can use RuPay card to pay RTI fee online

An applicant can submit a fee of Rs 10 towards cost of information via net banking through SBI and its associates

Citizens can use RuPay card for payment of fees to seek information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

"Applicants can now pay the prescribed RTI fee or additional fee using their RuPay card also," an official in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.

A portal -- www.Rtionline.Gov.In -- was started in 2013 with an aim to help people exercise their right to seek information through online medium.

An applicant is allowed to submit a fee of Rs 10, towards cost of information, via internet banking through SBI and its associated banks.

People can also use credit or debit cards of Master or Visa for payment of the fee, he said. "But now RuPay card has also been included as the mode of payment. The facility has been made operational recently," he said.

RuPay -- coined from two term, Rupee and Payment -- is an Indian version of credit or debit card. It has been launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) with a vision to allow all Indian banks and financial institutions in the country to participate in electronic payments.

The Centre's flagship Right to Information Act, which was enacted in 2005, mandates timely response to citizen's request for government information. One has to pay a fee of Rs 10 for seeking information.

The portal also help an RTI applicant and appellant to see the status of his application and appeal. The Centre has also started an online facility -- eIPO (electronic Indian Postal Order) -- for both Indian citizens and Non-Residential Indians to pay RTI fee to access governance related information.