How the Act performed this quarter
1 April to 30 June 2026. Every figure below is traceable to the requests it came from.
On-time answering by authority
Filed, answered within the statutory period, and appeal rate
What refusals were based on
Share of all refusals this quarter
Section 8(1)(j) — personal information34%
Overturned on appeal in 41% of cases. The commonest bad refusal.
Section 8(1)(d) — commercial confidence19%
Third-party notice under Section 11 recorded in only 28% of these.
“Information not maintained”17%
Not a ground under the Act. Section 6(3) transfer was made in 12% of these.
Section 8(1)(a) — sovereignty and security11%
Concentrated in three ministries.
Section 9 — infringes copyright6%
Overturned in 52% of appeals.
Other and unstated13%
No section cited at all — itself an appealable defect.
Appeals and penalties
First appeals decided within 45 days63%
First appeals where the CPIO was overruled38%
Second appeals pending before the CIC22,704
Median CIC disposal time14 months
Section 20 penalties imposed184
Penalty exposure at ₹250/day, unpaid₹2.31 Cr
How 100 requests move
Answered without appeal71%
Went to first appeal8.5%
Reached the Commission1.2%
Each step down the ladder costs the citizen months and the office its record.
What needs a direction this quarter
Direction requiredHousing & Urban Affairs: 26.5% appeal rate, 44% on-time
Three of eleven CPIOs account for 61% of the delays. Recommend a written direction under Section 19(8)(a) and CPIO retraining before the next quarter.
Direction required“Not maintained in this office” used 58,000 times
Used without a Section 6(3) transfer in 88% of instances. This is a procedural failure, not a refusal ground, and it is the single largest driver of avoidable appeals.
Monitor this quarter48-hour life-and-liberty requests: 22% missed
417 requests flagged under the Section 7(1) proviso were answered late. Recommend automatic escalation to the Nodal Officer at hour 24.
Monitor this quarterCIC backlog grows faster than disposal
Second appeals rose 21.6% while disposals rose 4%. At the current rate the median wait reaches 19 months by FY 2027-28.
What this view depends on
Refusal grounds can only be counted if the CPIO records them against a point. Scanned letters produce no data.
The system runs the clock, so on-time rates are observed instead of self-declared in an annual return.
When an FAA or the Commission overrules a ground, that outcome attaches to the ground that failed.