Information Seekers
- Who can apply for information?
- Which departments or institutions I can seek information from?
- Can I access information from private institutions or organizations?
- What are the types of information that I can’t access?
- How can I apply for information?
- How do I know who is the PIO in a public body and how s(he) can be contacted?
- What should I do if I can’t find out the contact details of the relevant PIO?
- What should a person do who is illiterate or disable and can’t write an application?
- Am I required to personally appear before a PIO to apply for the information that I need?
- Do I have to pay fee for obtaining information?
- How long it takes the PIO or a public body to provide the requested information?
- Can a PIO or public body deny my access to information by referring to other laws or rules under laws other than the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act 2013?
- What can I do if I don’t get the requested information within the prescribe time or if I have another grievance?
- What is the procedure of internal review or a complaint to the Commission?
- What should I do if I don’t get the requested information despite a favorable order obtained as a result of internal review or complaint to the Commission?
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Any citizen of Pakistan or an organization registered in Pakistan can apply for information under the Act.
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You can seek information from any department, attached department, organization, institution, court, tribunal, commission, office, board or a body established or funded by the Government of the Punjab.
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You can access information from those private institutions or organizations, which are substantially financed by the provincial or a local government.
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You can access any information from a pubic body, which is not exempt under section 13 of the Act. The exceptions relate to the records where disclosure of the information shall or is likely to cause harm to:
The Commission, however, can even order disclosure of exempt information if it reaches the conclusion that the public interest in disclosure outweighs the protected interests.
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You can write application for access to information on a plain paper or on an optional form developed and disseminated by the Commission. You should address your application to the public information officer (PIO) designated by the relevant public body. In your application, you must:
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You should call any office of the relevant public body or visit its website to find out about the PIO and his/her contact details. You may also find contact details of the PIO on the website of the Commission.
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If you can’t find out who is the PIO in the public body from which you need information, you can address and send your application to head of the public body in the related district or administrative unit. However, if you send your application directly to the PIO, you will be likely to get a quicker response.
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A person who is disable or illiterate and can’t write an application, s(he) should approach the relevant PIO, who is duty bound under the law to provide necessary assistance to such a person.
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No, you are not required to personally appear before the PIO to submit the application. You can submit your application in the following ways:
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No, you are not required to pay any fee at the time of submitting your application. However, if your application for access to information is accepted, the PIO may communicate to you the actual cost of reproducing the information that you had requested. The cost of reproducing and providing information will be calculated and should be paid strictly in accordance with the Schedule of Costs notified by the Commission.
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Ordinarily, the PIO must decide your application and provide you the requested information within 14 working days of the receipt of your application. However, the PIO can extend the duration by another 14 days if he needs to consult a third party, or if the requested information has to be collected from multiple offices or searched from extensive records. If the PIO extends the response time, he must inform you about it. If the requested information is about the life and liberty of a person, the PIO shall provide it to you within 2 working days. However, it shall take a little longer if you sent your application to an officer other than the PIO. In such a case, the above-mentioned time limits shall start from the date the PIO gets the application after having been transferred by the officer who originally received it.
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No, the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act 2013 takes precedence over all other laws. Therefore, no other law or rules can be relied upon to deny access to information sought under the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act 2013. However, access to information can be denied if it is hit by any of the exceptions mentioned in section 13 of the Act.
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In case of a grievance, you have 2 options:
Option A
Within 60 days since the cause of your grievance, you can approach the head of the relevant public body and seek internal review against:
Option B
If you don’t want to apply for internal review or if you are not satisfied with the result of internal review, you can approach the Commission with your complaint on any of the following grounds:
The Commission shall decide your complaint within 30 days of its receipt or, for good reasons to be recorded in writing, within sixty days.
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You should first decide whether you want to file an internal review to head of the public body or complaint to the Commission. You must NOT approach the two forums concurrently. Whichever forum you choose to approach for the redress of your grievance, you can write your application on a plain paper by including the following information:
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It is a legal responsibility of the PIO and/or of the public body to implement orders of the Commission unless a higher court sets the same aside. However, if such a situation arises, you can approach the Commission, which can then proceed against the relevant officer(s) under section 15 and/or section 16 of the Act.
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Information Providers
- Who can apply for information?
- Who can be a public information officer (PIO)?
- Can a PIO decide applications for access to information himself or he will need approval of competent authority?
- What should a PIO do if the requested information is not held in the offices of the public body that he is responsible for?
- What are steps that a PIO should take on receipt of an application for access to information?
- What should a PIO do when requested information relates to the offices that he is responsible for, but he can’t provide timely access due to non-cooperation of other officers who have the relevant record in their custody?
- What are the types of information that an applicant can access?
- What are the responsibilities of a PIO other than disposal of applications for access to information?
- Can a PIO require an applicant to personally appear to apply for the information that he needs?
- Is an applicant required to pay fee for obtaining information?
- How long it should take the PIO or a public body to provide the requested information?
- Can a PIO or public body deny access to requested information by referring to laws or rules under laws other than the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act 2013?
- Can a PIO require applicant to personally appear to collect the requested information?
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Any citizen of Pakistan or an organization registered in Pakistan can apply for information under the Act.
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A public body can designate one or more officers of grade 16 or above as PIOs. In order to avoid the possibility of frequent changes due to transfers, promotions and retirements, the Commission has held that PIOs should be designated by post, NOT by name.
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A designated PIO is himself competent to decide any application for access to information. He is not required to seek consent or approval of his senior officer. In fact, by seeking consent or approval of his senior, he may be committing abdication of responsibility on his part and causing a conflict of interest situation for his senior, who may later be involved in deciding requests for internal review by aggrieved applicants.
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If the requested information relates, wholly, to another public body or an administrative unit for which the PIO is not responsible for, he should transfer the application to the PIO in the relevant public body or administrative unit and inform the applicant accordingly.
If the requested information relates, partially, to another public body or an administrative unit for which the PIO is not responsible for, he should decide the application as far as it relates to him. For the remaining part, he should transfer the application to the PIO in the relevant public body or administrative unit and inform the applicant accordingly.
However, if the PIO doesn’t know and can’t find out the contact details of the PIO in the other administrative unit or public body, he should return the application to the applicant and inform him that (a) requested information doesn’t relate to the offices of his responsibility; and (b) he doesn’t know the PIO in the relevant administrative unit or the public body and, therefore, he can’t transfer the application under section 11 of the Act. |
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The PIO is expected to take the following steps
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Under the Act, a PIO can seek assistance from any officer in the offices or public body for which he is responsible. An officer whose assistance was sought will be deemed to be a PIO for the purpose of instant application and will be liable for any violations of the Act. The PIOs should preferably seek assistance from other officers in writing and make such requests a part of the record.
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An applicant can access any information from a pubic body, which is not exempt under section 13 of the Act. The exceptions relate to the records where disclosure of the information shall or is likely to cause harm to:
The Commission, however, can even order disclosure of exempt information if it reaches the conclusion that the public interest in disclosure outweighs the protected interests.
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Other than disposal of applications for access to information, a PIO is responsible for the following:
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No, an applicant is not required to personally appear before the PIO to submit the application. He can submit his application in the following ways:
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No, an applicant is not required to pay any fee at the time of submitting his application. However, if his application for access to information is accepted, the PIO may communicate to him the actual cost of reproducing the information that he had requested. However, the cost of reproducing and providing information will be calculated and should be paid strictly in accordance with the Schedule of Costs notified by the Commission.
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Ordinarily, the PIO must decide an application and provide the requested information to the applicant within 14 working days of the receipt of application. However, the PIO can extend the duration by another 14 days if he needs to consult a third party, or if the requested information has to be collected from multiple offices or searched from extensive records. If the PIO extends the response time, he must inform the applicant about it.
If the requested information is about the life and liberty of a person, the PIO shall provide it to the applicant within 2 working days.
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No, the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act 2013 takes precedence over all other laws. Therefore, no other law or rules can be relied upon to deny access to information sought under the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act 2013. However, access to information can be denied if it is hit by any of the exceptions mentioned in section 13 of the Act.
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No, a PIO should not necessarily require the applicant to personally come to his office to collect the information. Ordinarily, the requested information should be sent out by post or, if possible, by email, or in the manner as may have been requested by the applicant. In exceptional circumstances, for example where the applicant may need to identify the record that he needs, the PIO may suggest the applicant to personally visit the office of the PIO to accurately identify the record to avert, among others, higher costs of reproducing information. | |