Canara

RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT

 Object of the Act :

The object of the Act is to ensure that all citizens are able to seek information which is under the control of any Public Authority. The idea is to give transparency, accountability and openness in Government Administration. At present, the Government administration functions under a halo of secrecy, lack of transparency and unwillingness to divulge information and an ordinary citizen is unable to get information that he wants from the public Authority.

Right to Information (RTI) is an Act of the Parliament of India to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens and replaces the erstwhile Freedom of information Act, 2002. Under the provisions of the Act, any citizen of India may request information from a "public authority" which is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days.

The Act also requires every public authority to computerise their records for wide dissemination and to proactively certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally.

This law was passed by Parliament on 15 June 2005 and came fully into force on 12 October 2005. Information disclosure in India was restricted by the Official Secrets Act 1923 and various other special laws, which the new RTI Act relaxes. It codifies a fundamental right of the citizens of India.

The Act covers the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir, where J&K Right to Information Act is in force. It covers all the constitutional authorities, including executive, legislature and judiciary; any institution or body established or constituted by an act of Parliament or a state legislature. It is also defined in the Act that bodies or authorities established or constituted by order or notification of appropriate government including bodies "owned, controlled or substantially financed" by government, or non-Government organizations "substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds".

Eligibility to seek information:

Only a citizen of India can seek information under RTI Act 2005. Non-citizen are not eligible to seek information under the act. Hence, the applicant invariably needs to declare his citizenship in the application.

Time norms for disposal of Applications & Appeals:

Format of application:

There is no prescribed format of application for seeking information. The application can be made on plain paper. The application should, however, contain all the details mentioned in the sample Application form. Click Here for the application form.

In cases where the applicant wishes to seek information electronically, shall fill-in all columns of online application correctly in web based RTI portal at: https://rtionline.gov.in.

The application should be made in English or Hindi or in the official language of the area in which the application is being made, accompanied by the prescribed fee and specifying the particulars of the information sought.

What information can be sought:

A citizen has a right to seek such information from a public authority which is held by the public authority or which is held under its control. This right includes inspection of work, documents and records; taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records; and taking certified samples of material held by the public authority or held under the control of the public authority. It is important to note that only such information can be supplied under the Act which already exists and is held by the public authority or held under the control of the public authority. The Central Public Information Officer is not supposed to create information; or to interpret information; or to solve the problems raised by the applicants; or to furnish replies to hypothetical questions.

The information to the applicant should ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought. However, if the supply of information sought in a particular form would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority or may cause harm to the safety or preservation of the records, supply of information in that form may be denied (Section. 7 (9) of RTI Act 2005).

A citizen has a right to get 'material' from a public authority which is held by or under the control of that public authority. The Act, however, does not require the Public Information Officer to deduce some conclusion from the 'material' and supply the 'conclusion' so deduced to the applicant. It means that the Public Information Officer is required to supply the 'material' in the form as held by the public authority, but not to do research on behalf of the citizen to deduce anything from the material and then supply it to him.

The Act provides under Sections 8 and 9, certain categories of information that are exempt from disclosure to the citizens. The public may also refer to the relative sections of the Act before submitting a request for information.

Digital Right to Information System ::

From June 2016 onwards Department of Personnel & Training, Ministry of Human Resources, Govt. of India has come out with a Common web based RTI Portal for all the Government Departments, Govt. of India Undertakings, PSUs, PSBs, Public Sector Insurance Companies together.

The Web based RTI portal has following advantages:

• Provision for online payment of RTI Fees and additional Fees

• To provide additional documents

• For Full or Partial transfer of RTI applications from one Public Authority to another Public Authority or from One CPIO to another CPIO etc.

• To upload periodical data to Ministry site.

The URL to Submit Online RTI Applications, to Submit First Appeals, to View Status & download the Reply / Information given by the CPIOs / 1^st Appellate Authorities is: https://rtionline.gov.in

Keeping in view provisions of the RTI Act, we hereby provide the information as per terms of Sec. 4 of the RTI Act.

GUIDELINES TO APPLICANTS :

• Full details of RTI Act 2005 are furnished in different chapters.
• The applicant make request either by submitting the physical application or through Online (web based Package) at https://rtionline.gov.in
• Physical application shall contain all the details as mentioned in the format of application provide in the Bank’s website and should be legible.
• All columns of online application should be filled-in correctly.
• Application fee can be remitted by way of DD/PO/IPO, made payable to the Public Information Officer, Canara Bank at the place of PIO or at Bangalore. Application fee can also be remitted by way of cash against receipt at the concerned branches along with their RTI application.
• Persons living below poverty line are exempted from payment of application fee of Rs. 10/-, if they produce BPL Certificate issued by the Competent Authority.
• Applicants should submit their RTI application to the concerned Public Information Officer of the Region or to the Branch Head of the concerned Canara Bank branches. The name and address of the PIO is made available above.

RIGHT TO APPEAL:

If the applicant is not satisfied with the reply / information provided by the Public Information Officer of Canara Bank, Applicant can file the First Appeal before the concerned First Appellate Authority, against the decision of the Public Information Officer within 30 days from the date of receipt of decision of CPIO.

The appeal should be disposed off within 30 days of receipt of the appeal. In exceptional cases, the Appellate Authority may take 45 days for its disposal for which reasons are recorded.

The Applicant still has right to Second Appeal before the Central Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission, New Delhi against the decision of the First Appellate Authority.

For further information / details visit website of Central Information Commission: www.cic.gov.in

Address of Section / Wing at Head Office :

CANARA BANK

RIA SECTION, RL & FP WING, HEAD OFFICE,

5^TH FLOOR, “JEEVAN PRAKASH BUILDING”,

113-1, J C ROAD, BANGALORE – 560002.

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