Right to Information

Right to Information

The Right to Information (RTI) under the provisions of the RTI Act is available to the citizens of India only. RTI Act is an important legislation designed to promote transparency and accountability in the functioning of public authorities.

The full text of the RTI Act is available here: https://rti.gov.in/rti-act.pdf

The RTI Act also provides for appeals by aggrieved persons to the Central Information Commission of the Government of India.

Indian citizens resident in consular jurisdiction of Consulate General of India, Auckland may seek information in writing on payment of requisite fee during office hours on working days as per procedure laid down in the RTI Act, 2005.

Payment of RTI fee online - Electronic Indian Postal Order (eIPO)

The scheme of Electronic Indian Postal Order (eIPO) has been launched by the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, in association with Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). This would enable the Indian citizens abroad to pay the RTI fee online.

An Indian Postal Order can be purchased electronically by paying a fee on-line through e-Post Office Portal or through India Post website. The web-links for payment are:

www.indiapost.gov.in & www.epostoffice.gov.in

The Credit Card or Debit Card of any bank powered by Visa/ Master can be used for this purpose.

Procedure for obtaining eIPO

The RTI applicant is required to register on the website to create his/ her profile. Then he has to select the Ministry/ Department from whom he desires to seek information under the RTI Act. The eIPO is generated which can be used to seek information from that Ministry/ Department only. A printout of the eIPO is required to be attached with the RTI application sent in hard copy. In case RTI application is filed electronically, the eIPO is enclosed as an attachment. The profile is required to be created during the first time only.

The RTI application accompanied by an eIPO is similar in all respects to the RTI application accompanied by fees through any other approved mode. All the provisions regarding eligibility, time limit, exemptions etc; as provided in the RTI Act, 2005 continue to apply.

Currently, this facility is available only for Indian Citizens living anywhere in the world. By this measure, those living abroad would be facilitated to seek information under the RTI Act, 2005. Any public authority which accepts a postal order should also accept an eIPO.

Information under Section 4 (1) (b)

It may be noted that information provided under the Act is available to citizens of India only. Applications should be submitted along with documentary proof of Indian Citizenship (like copy of personal particulars pages of passport.) More information is available at Website of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and rti.gov.in

As per section 6(1) (a) of the RTI Act, 2005, a person who desires to obtain information under the Act is required to submit the application to the Public Information Officer of the “concerned public authority”. Applicants are, therefore, advised to send their requests under the RTI Act to PIO in the Consulate General of India, Auckland only when the subject matter can reasonably be presumed to pertain to the Consulate General of India, Auckland. It is expected that most information of interest would be available in Post’s website.

Applications seeking information under the Act may be sent to the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of CGI, Auckland along with the prescribed fee.

(i)	The particulars of its organization, functions and duties;	The Consulate General of India, Auckland, began functioning w.e.f. 5th September 2024. CGI, Auckland is headed by the Consul General. Working hours, address, phone number and email address are given on the home page of its website – www.cgiauckland.gov.in CGI is a representative office of Government of India in Auckland. Functions of the CGI, Auckland include issuance of visas, passport, OCI, PCC, other consular services as well as welfare of Indian nationals in its Consular jurisdiction (Regions of Northland, Waikato and Auckland), promotion of bilateral trade, culture etc. CGI functions under the general supervision of High Commission of India, Wellington. Work within the CGI is distributed among its officers and staff by the Consul General.
(ii)	The powers and duties of its officers and employees;	Financial powers of the officers of CGI are defined in the Delegated Financial powers of the Government of India's Representatives Abroad. Other powers and duties are derived from various Acts, rules and regulations as applicable. The officers of CGI exercise their powers and functions under the guidance and supervision of the Consul General as per work allocated.
(iii)	The procedure followed in the decision-making process;	(a) Decisions are taken after examination and processing under applicable rules and regulations with the approval of the competent authority. (b) Decisions are taken with the approval of Consul General while in some instances, the approval of competent authority in HCI Wellington / Ministry of External Affairs is obtained. (c) IFS(PLCA) rules, Financial Powers of GOI Representatives abroad, Passports/Visa Act and other Acts, rules and regulations. (d) Time limits as prescribed under the relevant rules are applicable. (e) The functioning of the CGI is under the supervision of HCI Wellington / Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
(iv)	Norms for discharge of functions;	(a) Visa and Consular services are offered by CGO as per Acts, rules and regulations applicable. (b) Norms / standards for public services are as per guidelines / instructions of HCI Wellington/Ministry of External Affairs. (c) Details on the process for availing visa/passport/consular services are available on the website of the CGI, Auckland (d) Time limits as prescribed under the relevant rules are applicable. (e) Grievances received through email and social media are brought to the notice of Consul General and are redressed as per rules.
(v)	Rules, regulations, instructions manual and records for discharging functions;	(a-c) IFS PLCA Rules and Annexures; Delegated Financial Powers of Government of India's Representatives abroad Rules; Passports Act; Manual of Office Procedure; Visa manual; Other Acts, Rules and manuals published by the Government of India as applicable. (d) Transfers from/to CGI are decided by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India as per its policy.
(vi)	Categories of documents held by the authority under its control;	(a) Correspondence/notes/files relating to the functioning of CGI; application forms and enclosures pertaining to Passport, consular and visa services; (b) The documents are in the custody of the respective officers to whom the work has been allotted;
(vii)	Arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof;	Members of the public can contact the CGI through letters/email/social media accounts/telephone with their suggestions / representations in relation to formulation of policy. Where applicable, these are forwarded to the competent authorities for consideration.
(viii)	Boards, Councils, Committees and other Bodies constituted as part of the Public Authority;	(a) Local Purchase Committee, Tender Evalutaion Committee; ICWF Committee etc (b) Composition of the Committees are decided by Consul General as and when constituted; (c) Committees are constituted as and when required; (d) Committees are formed for a specific purpose and on completion of the work, the committees are dissolved ; (e) The Powers and functions of the Committees are recommendatory in nature; (f) The meetings of the Committees are not open to the public; (g) Minutes of meetings of Committees are not open to the public; (h) As the minutes of meetings of Committees are not open to the public, they are not published.
(ix)	Directory of officers and employees;	(a) Directory of officers can be seen under contact us section of the website – www.cgiauckland.gov.in; (b) Contact details including email address of officers of CGI are given on the website – www.cgiauckland.gov.in;
(x)	Monthly Remuneration received by officers & employees, including the system of compensation;	The monthly remuneration including allowances received by officers and employees of CGI, Auckland depends on the pay level of the incumbent and are fixed by the Ministry of External Affairs. Annexure-I
(xi)	The budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made;	Annexure-II
(xii)	Manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes;	There are no subsidy programmes in CGI, Auckland
(xiii)	Particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it;	NIL
(xiv)	Details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form;	Website of CGI, Auckland contains data in electronic form.
(xv)	Particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use;	Currently there are no facilities available for public use in this office.
(xvi)	Name, designation and other particulars of the Public Information Officers;	Chief Public Information Officer Shri Sanjeev Kumar, Consul & Head of Chancery Consulate General of India, Auckland Tel: +64-92188216 Email :hoc.auckland@mea.gov.in First Appellate Authority Dr. Madan Mohan Sethi, Consul General Consulate General of India, Auckland Tel: +64-92188216 Email : cg.auckland@mea.gov.in Details of FAA and CPIO w.e.f. 18.12.2024
(xvii)	Such other information as may be prescribed and thereafter update these publications every year;	Websites of Consulate General of India, Auckland and the High Commission in Wellington have information which is updated on a regular basis.