Govt acknowledges global Indians’ woes to access RTI info, extends e-IPO payment mode to foreign missions

A moment in Indian Embassy in Paris

IN A major boost to the RTI movement, the government has extended the facility of e-IPO (Electronic Indian Postal Order) for payment of RTI fees to Indian citizens living abroad so as to help them getting information from 176 Indian missions and posts that come under the ministry of external affairs (MEA). An office memorandum (OM) dated October 7, 2013, also acknowledged the difficulties…
faced by Indians living abroad to access information from Indian embassies and posts. “It has been brought to the notice of this Department (DoPT) that Indian citizens living abroad are facing difficulties in payment, of fees for accessing information from Indian Mission/Posts abroad as the facility of e-IPO was not available with them”, the OM said.
In fact, the e-IPO as a mode of paying RTI fee is new. It was launched with effect from March 22, 2013 to help Indian citizens living across the globe to purchase an e-IPO by paying the fee online to access the information under the RTI Act, 2005. But the facility then was not extended for obtaining information from the Indian missions and posts.
Under the e-IPO mode, the user needs to get himself registered at either www.epostoffice.gov.in or www.indiapost.gov.in. He then has to select the ministry or department from whom he desires to seek the information under the RTI Act. The e-IPO is generated after making payment by using debit or credit card.
A printout of the e-IPO is required to be attached with the RTI application, according to the procedure explained in an earlier OM dated March 22, 2013. If the RTI application is being filed electronically, e-IPO is required to be attached as an attachment.
Considering the growing NRI population, the extension of electronic mode of payment as RTI fees, to Indian missions abroad, is likely to give more pressure on MEA outfits abroad. But experts say, the move would result in bringing more transparency to the day-to-day functioning of Indian foreign missions.