Hyderabad NGO flags Anomalies In RTO Portal

Hyderabad: Urban Development Forum, a Hyderabad-based NGO, has urged IT and industries minister D. Sridhar Babu to take action against the private firm contracted to manage Telangana’s online Right to Information (RTI) portal, alleging irregularities and lack of transparency.

Forum convener M. Srinivas, in a letter to the minister, said the firm had failed to register hundreds of applications, creating confusion rather than ensuring accountability. Since the portal’s launch three years ago, only 377 applications have been handled, or just 2 percent of the 17,805 applications received. Although hundreds of government departments come under RTI, the portal currently covers only 17 departments.

The firm signed a ₹2.07 crore, three-year contract and has already demanded ₹1.51 crore. His term ended in 2025. The forum called on the government to hand over RTI operations to the National Informatics Center (NIC).

Srinivas also pointed out frequent technical glitches, including OTP delivery errors that hinder registrations. He demanded that the portal be redesigned in a human-friendly way, payments be examined and the company’s performance be investigated.