The Maharashtra government has suspended its newly notified Right to Information (RTI) Rules, 2026, barely three weeks after they took effect, following a public backlash over a rejected transparency request in Pune and a threatened hunger strike by veteran anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered the State Information Commission to keep the revised provisions in abeyance from July 2, reverting departments to the earlier RTI procedure, according to Punekar News and the Free Press Journal.

What the new rules changed

The General Administration Department notified the Maharashtra RTI Rules, 2026 on June 12, raising the application fee from ₹10 to ₹30, requiring self-attested proof of Indian citizenship with every request, capping applications at 150 words, and restricting each application to a single subject under a new Rule 7. First and second appeal fees were also introduced at ₹50 and ₹100. Public Information Officers (PIOs) were additionally empowered to simply point applicants to information already published online rather than furnish physical copies.

Transparency advocates said the changes, drafted without consultation with RTI commissioners, lawyers or civil society groups, added friction to a process meant to be accessible to ordinary citizens.

The trigger: a rejected query on Pune Airport

The controversy crystallised around a specific case. Advocate Jatin Adhav, president of the People’s Welfare Association, filed an RTI application on June 16 asking Pune Traffic Police to explain the legal basis and boundaries of the restrictive “no-pickup zone” outside Pune Airport, which affects passengers, families and disabled travellers dropping off or collecting flyers. Instead of answering the first subject as the new Rule 7 required, the Pune Traffic Police PIO rejected the application outright — an outcome activists cited as proof the rules were being used to block, not streamline, information requests.

Adding to the pressure, Anna Hazare threatened an indefinite hunger strike from July 5, arguing the rules diluted the RTI Act’s core purpose and demanding fresh rules be framed only after consulting information commissioners, lawyers, journalists and civil society representatives.

What it means for residents

For ordinary applicants across Maharashtra, the immediate effect is procedural relief: the state has directed offices to stop technical rejections under Rule 7 and return to the pre-June 12 process, meaning the lower ₹10 fee and fewer restrictions apply again for now. But the episode is a reminder of how easily administrative rule-changes — often passed with limited public notice — can narrow a citizen’s ability to hold local bodies accountable, whether the issue is an airport traffic zone, a civic contract, or a school admission dispute. The Pune Airport case in particular shows how a routine transparency request can escalate into a statewide policy reversal when it exposes a broader pattern of stonewalling.

Outlook

The suspension is described as a hold, not a repeal. Whether the state redrafts the rules with genuinely wider consultation, or quietly reintroduces similar restrictions later, remains to be seen. Residents who use the RTI Act regularly — journalists, activists and ordinary citizens alike — will want to watch for the government’s next notification, and whether the Pune Airport no-pickup zone question itself is ever actually answered.

Sources: Punekar News, Free Press Journal

This report was compiled and written with AI assistance from publicly reported sources, and reviewed for accuracy.