The apex appellate authority under the Right to Information Act, 2005, that hears second appeals and complaints relating to access to information held by central public authorities.
- Statutory body established under the Right to Information Act, 2005; constituted in October 2005.
- Composition: a Chief Information Commissioner and up to ten Information Commissioners, appointed by the President.
- Appointed on the recommendation of a committee of the Prime Minister (chairperson), the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM.
- The RTI (Amendment) Act, 2019 empowered the Centre to fix the term, salary and service conditions of Information Commissioners (earlier fixed at five years or 65 years), a change criticised as diluting their independence.
- Hears second appeals after the first appeal to the departmental appellate authority; can impose penalties on public information officers and order disclosure.
The RTI Act of 2005, the appeal hierarchy, the 2019 amendment and the link to transparency are standard governance topics with a clear human-rights and accountability angle.
The CIC is the second appellate authority, not the first point of an RTI request; the 2019 amendment changed only the tenure and salary terms, not the basic RTI right; State Information Commissions handle State public authorities.
Statutory RTI appellate body (Act of 2005), with a Chief and up to ten Commissioners, hearing second appeals on central information.