• Act - Right to Information Act No. 12 of 2016
• Orders - Gazette Extra Ordinary No. 2004/66 dated 3rd February 2017
• Public Authority – Divisional Secretariat, Gomarankadawala
• Act and orders – Can be downloaded from www.documents.gov.lk

Request for information can be made to the Information Officer mentioned in the Act using application No. RTI1 in order to obtain information in relation to the Divisional Secretariat under the above Act. Submission of this application is not compulsory.

Applying For Information

1. Submit application No. RTI1, letter or make a verbal request to the Information Officer for obtaining necessary information and obtain an acknowledgement
2. You will be informed as expeditiously as possible and in any case within fourteen days whether the information requested by you can/ cannot be provided
3. In case when it is decided to issue the information requested, you will be informed the charges determined by the Commission, if such charge should be paid. You will be provided with the information requested within fourteen days on payment of a prescribed charge, if it is necessary or free of charge
4. In case where it is difficult to provide information requested within fourteen days, after paying the prescribed charges, the Information Officer will provide you the information requested within an additional period not exceeding 21 days informing the reasons for the extension of the time frame
5. Where the request for information concerns the life and personal liberty of the citizen, the response to it shall be made within forty-eight hours of the receipt of the request
6. If you are not satisfied regarding the following responses you receive for your request for information, kindly note to submit an appeal to the following officer within fourteen days
   1. refusing a request made for information
   2. refusing access to the information on the ground that such information is exempted from being granted under section 5
   3. non- compliance with time frames specified by this Act
   4. granting of incomplete, misleading or false information
   5. charging an excessive fees
   6. the refusal of the information officer to provide information in the form requested
   7. the citizen requesting having reasonable grounds to believe that information has been deformed, destroyed or misplaced to prevent such citizen from having access to the information

Appeal to the Commission

1. Any Appellant who is aggrieved with the decision of the Designated Officer, or by a failure to obtain a decision from that officer within the prescribed time limit set out in the Act, may appeal to the Commission by furnishing the information required in the sample Form annexed to these Rules
2. The Appeal shall be lodged in the office of the Commission, and can be delivered in person or through registered post
3. An Appeal shall normally be required to be made within two months of the grounds for the Appeal, having arisen
4. Such Appeal shall be accompanied by the following documents duly verified as true copies by the Appellant
   1. A copy of the request for information submitted under Section 24 of the Act
   2. A copy of the reply, if any, received from the Information Officer
   3. A copy of the appeal made to the Designated Officer under Section 31 of the Act
   4. A copy of the order, if any, received by the Designated Officer
   5. Copies of other documents relied upon by the Appellant and referred to in his or her appeal along with an index of the documents referred to in the Appeal
5. An Appeal must be filed by the Appellant in duplicate
6. The Commission may not ordinarily admit an Appeal unless the conditions set out in sub-rules (1- 5) have been met
7. The Commission may, admit the appeal after the two-month period where the Appellant was prevented by a reason beyond his or her control from filing the appeal in time

Address of the Commission

Director General
Right to Information Commission
Room No. 203-204, Block 2,
Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall
Colombo 07
Telephone No. +94 11 26 91 625, +94 11 26 91 007

Payment of fees:

1. Application Fees

1. No Public Authority shall charge any fee to provide a Right to Information Application Form to a citizen making an information request
2. No Public Authority shall charge any fee to process a Right to Information request

2. Fees for Information

Unless otherwise prescribed, the following Fees may be charged by a Public Authority for provision of information in response to a RTI request

(i)Photocopying:

(a) Rs. 2/- (one side) and 4/- (both sides) of one paper, for the information provided on A4 (21 cm x 29.7 cm) and smaller size paper
(b) Rs. 4/- (one side) and 8/- (both sides) of one paper for the information provided on paper that is Legal size (21.59 cm x 35.56 cm) and up to A3 (29.7 cm x 42 cm)
(c) Information provided on paper bigger than those mentioned above will be at actual cost.

(iii) Printout

(a) Rs. 4/- (one side) and 8/- (both sides) of one paper, for the information provided on A4 (21 cm x 29.7 cm) and smaller size paper
(b) Rs. 5/- (one side) and 10/- (both sides) of one paper for the information provided on paper that is Legal size (21.59 cm x 35.56 cm) and up to A3 (29.7 cm x 42 cm)
(c) Information printed on paper bigger than those mentioned above will be at actual cost

(iii)Rs. 20/- for copying information onto a Diskette, Compact Disc, USB mass drive, or similar electronic device, provided by the citizen making the request

(iv) Actual cost for copying information onto a Diskette, Compact Disc, USB mass drive, or similar electronic device provided by the Public Authority

(v) Rs. 50/- per hour for the study or inspection of any document or material, or inspection of a construction site and if this takes longer than one hour, with the first hour of study/inspection being provided free of charge. This shall be without prejudice to the practice of public authorities which previously provided such inspection free of charge and which practice shall continue notwithstanding this sub-rule

(vi) Samples or models will be charged the actual cost

(vii) Information provided via e-mail will be free of charge

3. Where there exists a previous Fee Schedule prescribed or issued by Public Authorities by way of circulars or regulations, that Fee Schedule shall continue to operate notwithstanding the Fees prescribed in Rule 4.

Provided that any dispute in regard to claims relating to existing Fee Schedules may be the subject of an Appeal to be determined by the Commission in accordance with these Rules on Fees and Appeals.

4.Information provided free of charge

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in Rule 4 above, the Public Authority shall provide information prepared or contained on four pages (A4 size) of photocopies or printing, free of cost

(2) Information that is ordinarily available free of charge shall continue to be provided free of charge

5. Mode of Payment of Fee

1. Notwithstanding anything contained elsewhere in these Rules, the Public Authority may collect the Fees for information in the following manner:
   1. In cash paid to the Account Branch of the Divisional Secretariat;
   2. Bank Draft addressed to the "Divisional Secretary, Gomarankadawala";
2. The Information Officer shall issue a receipt against payment of a fee regardless of the manner in which it is paid