24-Aug-2020: RTI is fully functional in Jammu and Kashmir: Dr. Jitendra Singh
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the RTI disposal rate had remained unaffected by the pandemic and during certain given intervals of time, the disposal rate was even higher than the usual. Addressing a meeting of the CIC and State Information Commissioners, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that ever since Modi Government came into power in 2014, Transparency and Citizen-Centricity became the hallmark of the Governance Model. He said that in the last six years, every conscious decision was taken to strengthen the Independence and Resources of the Information Commissions and all vacancies were filled as fast as possible.
Referring to statistical figures, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that rate of RTI disposal remained unaffected by the pandemic and from March to July 2020, disposal of cases by Central Information Commission was almost equal to the preceding year.
He added that in June,2020, RTI disposal rate was higher than June 2019 and everyone took note of that. This reinforced vigour proved to society and the nation that nothing can deter the working of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Government, he added.
Dr .Jitendra Singh also suggested that the Information Authorities should ponder to avoid the avoidable RTIs and underlined that almost all information today is in public domain. He also added that avoidance of duplication and misguided RTIs will lead to reduction in pendency and workload and will enhance efficiency.
Dr Jitendra Singh that it goes to the credit of the Commission and its functionaries that in the midst of the pandemic on 15th May this year, the Central Information Commission started entertaining, hearing and disposing of RTIs from the newly created Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, through virtual means.
The Minister also informed that any citizen of India can now file RTI pertaining to matters related to J&K and Ladakh, which was reserved to only Citizens of erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir, before the Reorganisation Act of 2019.It is pertinent to mention here that consequent to the passing of J&K Reorganisation Act 2019, the J&K Right to Information Act 2009 and the Rules there under were repealed and Right to Information Act 2005 and the Rules there under were enforced from 31.10.2019. This measure was widely hailed by people of Jammu and Kashmir and the Administration of the UT.
Chief Information Commissioner Shri Bimal Julka said that the Commission had effectively continued its interactive and outreach activities during the lockdown period and afterwards. These, he said, included video conference with civil society representatives and video conferencing with members of National Federation of Information Commissions in India (NFICI).
24-Feb-2019: EVMs are 'information' under RTI Act
An Electronic Voting Machine is "information" under the Right to Information Act and can be demanded by an applicant from the Election Commission of India on a payment of Rs 10, the Central Information Commission has ruled.
This implies the Election Commission has to respond to an RTI application seeking the EVM either by providing it or refusing it under exemption clauses in the Act. But that also can be contested before the CIC, the highest adjudicating authority in RTI matters.
The machine is covered under the definition of "information" and can be demanded from the ECI.
Section 2(f) of the RTI Act defines 'Information' as any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force.
An information can be denied by a public authority if it attracts any exemption clauses listed in the RTI Act which also exempts information pertaining to commercial confidence or intellectual property from disclosure.
One of the clauses Section 8(1)(d) exempts information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information.
The ECI argument calling machine having propriety software was noted by the CIC but he limited his order, saying the rejection of application was "erroneous" by the ECI and a fresh reply should be sent to the applicant as per the RTI provisions.
25-Nov-2018: Government Brought Most Public Authorities Under RTI Act
The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh stated that in the last four and half years, the government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has brought most of the public authorities under the purview of the RTI act, which is in keeping with the commitment to ensure maximum transparency in the working of these institutions. The Department of Personnel and Training(DOP&T), which is the nodal department for the Right to Information and Central Information Commission, has so far successfully covered nearly 2000 public authorities under the RTI Act.
The filing of RTI has been made much more convenient and easy with the use of latest technology. There is now a portal and an App, as a result of which, any citizen can file an RTI from his mobile phone, at any time of the day or night, and from anywhere.
The disposal time of the RTI application received in the Central Information Commission has been drastically reduced and added that the pendency has also considerably reduced in comparison to what it was before 2014.
In the DOP&T, Dr Jitendra Singh said, we have tried to sincerely live up to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s commitment of maximum governance with minimum government, maximum transparency and maximum citizen-participation. He said, there has also been a successful effort to compile inputs from the various RTIs received, in order to prepare research manuals for planning future strategies and improve upon the existing methodologies.
10-Jul-2020: Shipping Ministry issues draft “Aids to Navigation Bill 2020” for public consultation
In accordance with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision for augmenting people’s participation and transparency in the governance, Ministry of Shipping has issued the draft of Aids to Navigation Bill, 2020 for suggestions from the stakeholders and general public.
The draft bill is proposed to replace the almost nine decades old Lighthouse Act, 1927, to incorporate the global best practices, technological developments and India's International obligations in the field of Aids to Marine Navigation.
Union Minister of State of Shipping (I/C) Shri Mansukh Mandaviya said that this initiative is part of the proactive approach adopted by the Ministry of Shipping by repealing archaic colonial laws and replacing it with modern and contemporary needs of the maritime industry. Shri Mandaviya also added that suggestions from the public and stakeholders will strengthen the provisions of the legislation. He further added that the bill aims to regulate state-of-the-art technologies of marine navigation which was earlier used to tangle in statutory provisions of Lighthouse Act, 1927.
The draft bill provides for empowering Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL) with additional power and functions such as Vessel Traffic Service, Wreck flagging, training and certification, implementation of other obligations under International Conventions, where India is a signatory. It also provides for identification and development of heritage lighthouses.
The draft bill comprises a new schedule of offences, along with commensurate penalties for obstructing and damaging the aids to navigation, and non-compliance with directives issued by the Central Government and other bodies under the draft bill.
With the advent of modern technologically improved aids to maritime navigation, the role of authorities regulating and operating maritime navigation has changed drastically. Therefore the new law encompasses a major shift from lighthouses to modern aids of navigation.
The draft bill is uploaded on the Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships’ website http://www.dgll.nic.in/Content/926_3_dgll.gov.in.aspx, where citizens can submit their suggestions and opinions regarding the draft bill to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. latest by 24.07.2020.
30-Jun-2020: Implementation of Amendments in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899
The Amendments in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 brought through Finance Act 2019 and Rules made thereunder will come into effect from tomorrow, i.e. 1st July, 2020 vide notifications dated 30th March, 2020.
In order to facilitate ease of doing business and to bring in uniformity of the stamp duty on securities across States and thereby build a pan-India securities market, the Central Government, after due deliberations and consultations with the States, through requisite amendments in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 and Rules made thereunder, has created the legal and institutional mechanism to enable states to collect stamp duty on securities market instruments at one place by one agency (through Stock Exchange or Clearing Corporation authorized by it or by the Depository) on one Instrument. A mechanism for appropriately sharing the stamp duty with relevant State Governments has also been developed which is based on the state of domicile of the buyer.
The present system of collection of stamp duty on securities market transactions led to multiple rates for the same instrument, resulting in jurisdictional disputes and multiple incidences of duty, thereby raising the transaction costs in the securities market and hurting capital formation.
The relevant provisions of the Finance Act, 2019 amending the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 and the Indian Stamp (Collection of Stamp-Duty through Stock Exchanges, Clearing Corporations and Depositories) Rules, 2019 were notified simultaneously on 10th December, 2019 and these were to come into force from 9th January, 2020, which was later extended to 1st April, 2020 vide notifications dated 8th January, 2020. Further, considering the requests received from stakeholders, country-wide lockdown situation due to Covid-19 and in line with the relaxations given on statutory and regulatory compliance in other sectors, the date for implementation of amendments in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 brought through Finance Act 2019 and Rules made thereunder was further extended to 1st July, 2020 vide notifications dated 30th March, 2020.
Potential Impact: This rationalized and harmonized system through centralized collection mechanism is expected to ensure minimize cost of collection and enhance revenue productivity. Further, this system will help develop equity markets and equity culture across the length and breadth of the country, ushering in balanced regional development.
Salient Features
To achieve the rationalization of stamp duty structures, the amendments, inter-alia, provide for the following structural reforms; —
- The stamp-duty on sale, transfer and issue of securities shall be collected on behalf of the State Government by the collecting agents who then shall transfer the collected stamp-duty in the account of the concerned State Government.
- In order to prevent multiple incidences of taxation, no stamp duty shall be collected by the States on any secondary record of transaction associated with a transaction on which the depository / stock exchange has been authorised to collect the stamp duty.
- In the extant scenario, stamp duty was payable by both seller and buyer whereas in the new system it is levied only on one side (payable either by the buyer or by the seller but not by both, except in case of certain instrument of exchange where the stamp duty shall be borne by both parties in equal proportion).
- The collecting agents shall be the Stock Exchanges or authorized Clearing Corporations and the Depositories.
- For all exchange based secondary market transactions in securities, Stock Exchanges shall collect the stamp duty; and for off-market transactions (which are made for a consideration as disclosed by trading parties) and initial issue of securities happening in demat form, Depositories shall collect the stamp duty.
- The Central Government has also notified the Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL) under the jurisdiction of RBI and the Registrars to an Issue and/or Share Transfer Agents (RTI/STAs) to act as a collecting agent. The objective is to bring OTC derivative transactions reported to CCIL and physical space (non-demat) transactions in mutual funds handled through RTI/STAs under the ambit of stamp duty regime so as to avoid any tax arbitrage.
- The collecting agents shall within three weeks of the end of each month transfer the stamp-duty collected to the State Government where the residence of the buyer is located and in case the buyer is located outside India, to the State Government having the registered office of the trading member or broker of such buyer and in case where there is no such trading member of the buyer, to the State Government having the registered office of the participant.
- The collecting agent shall transfer the collected stamp-duty in the account of concerned State Government with the Reserve Bank of India or any scheduled commercial bank, as informed to the collecting agent by the Reserve Bank of India or the concerned State Government.
- The collecting agent may deduct 0.2 per cent of the stamp-duty collected on behalf of the State Government towards facilitation charges before transferring the same to such State Government.
- For many segments, there is reduction in duty. For example, the rate prescribed is lower for issue of equity/debentures and for transfer of debentures (including re-issue) to aid capital formation and to promote corporate bond market.
- For equity cash segment trading (both delivery and non-delivery-based transactions) and options, since rates are to be charged only on one side in line with the new scheme, it can be stated that there is an overall reduction in tax burden.
- Secondary market transfer of instruments which are traded with differences in a few basis points, like interest rate / currency derivatives or corporate bonds are being charged at a very lower rate from the existing rates. For the newly introduced ‘repo on corporate bonds’, a far lower rate is specified, since similarly positioned repo on Government Securities is not subject to duty.
- No stamp duty shall be chargeable in respect of the Instruments of transaction in stock exchanges and depositories established in any International Financial Services Centre set up under section 18 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005.
- Tax arbitrage is avoided by providing the same rate of stamp duty for issue or re-issue or sale or transfer of securities happening outside stock exchanges and depositories.
- Mutual funds, being delivery-based transactions in securities, were supposed to have been paying the duty as per various State Acts. All mutual fund transactions are thus liable for stamp duty and the new system has only standardized the charges across states and the manner of collection of stamp duty.
Readiness for Implementation
Even during the strict lockdown phases in view of pandemic situation, all efforts were made to ensure market continuity because Stock Markets are critical for the economy.
The amendments to the Stamp Act and the rates have been in public domain since February 2019 (when Finance Act, 2019 was notified) and market had enough time to prepare for this. The operational systems of Stock Exchanges, Clearing Corporations, Depositories, CCIL and RTI/ STAs are all set / prepared to roll out the relevant provisions of amended Indian Stamp Act 1899 and rules made thereunder from 1st July, 2020.
The Regulators (RBI & SEBI) have been authorized by the Central Government under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 to issue clarificatory circulars/ operational guidelines on specific issues so as to ensure smooth implementation from 1st July, 2020.