The notified, new rules of the right to information Act have been posted on the department of personnel and training website. The new rules of the transparency law, notified on July 31, set a word limit of 500 in the application. However, no application will be rejected soley on the basis of exceeding the word limit.

The rules also make it mandatory for the appellant to be present in person or send a representative at the case hearings by the central information commission. As a relaxation to the deposition rules, the appellant may mark presence through video-conferencing if the facility is available.

The new rules allow the CPIO not to be present during hearing.  He/she can instead depute a representative or another official. RTI activists feel that the amendments would only lead to delay in getting information.