The postal department’s idea of allowing ordinary postage stamps of definitive series towards payment of Right to Information (RTI) fees had to be rejected outright requiring amendment to the RTI Act, said RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal.
Mr. Agrawal revealed how the postal department could not issue RTI stamps due to shortage of paper in two printing presses at Hyderabad and Nashik and as such came out with an idea of allowing ordinary postage stamps of definitive series towards payment of RTI fees, which was struck down as impractical.
He recalled the postal department earlier accepting full bench Central Information Commission (CIC) verdict in August 2013, recommending issue of RTI stamps as mode of payment of RTI fees and accepting RTI petitions addressed to central public authorities at 25464 post offices rather than present 4710 post offices without postal charges.
"CIC had for such reasons recommended issue of exclusive RTI stamps on lines of erstwhile stamps issued by postal department in respect of licence fees for radio and TV sets. Postal department has also backed out on its earlier commitment to accept RTI petitions addressed to central public authorities allegedly because of lack of infrastructural facilities," Mr. Agrawal said on Monday.
