Key amendments to RTI Act comes into force as Meity operationalises DPDP Act

A key amendment to the RTI Act, brought in through the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP) Act, that critics say dilutes provisions of RTI, came into force on November 14, according to a gazette notification by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

The notification was brought into force Section 44(3) of the DPDP Act, which amends the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Through this change, public authorities and information commissioners must apply the DPDP Act’s definition of “personal data” while deciding RTI requests.

This effectively raises the threshold for disclosing personal details of individuals unless a larger public interest is clearly established.

This provision has been met with criticism by several quarters of the society, including media industry, civil society and so on, as they argue that it may restrict disclosure of personal information in RTI responses. Responding to criticism, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw earlier this year, aid that the law will not restrict disclosure of personal information in RTI responses.