Is there a fee for filing an RTI First Appeal?

Whether a First Appeal carries a fee depends on the state, and the figures are not uniform: Maharashtra charges Rs. 20 under rule 5(1) of its 2026 Rules. For a Central public authority the central RTI Rules, 2012 prescribe no appeal fee: they set an application fee and copying charges and no appeal fee. The Maharashtra figure is rule 5(1) of the Maharashtra RTI Rules 2026 notified on 7 July 2026 (Gazette Extraordinary Part IV-A No. 273, superseding the rules of 12 June 2026), payable in cash against a proper receipt, by demand draft or banker's cheque payable to the public authority, or by affixing a court fee stamp of rupees twenty. For any other state, read that state's own RTI rules before you send the appeal: we have not re-read every state's rules this year, so treat any figure you see elsewhere, including in our own fee calculator, as something to confirm against the rules themselves.