CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Information Commission has 37,150 pending appeals and complaints as of June 30, 2026, with a fresh case estimated to take one year and seven months to be disposed of, according to a national assessment that flagged prolonged delays, vacancies and procedural barriers in the implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The Report Card on the Performance of Information Commissions in India, 2025-26, published by Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) (Society for Citizens Vigilance Initiatives (SCVI)) in October 2026, found that 27 Information Commissions registered 2,61,669 cases, while 28 disposed of 2,41,627 during the year. The national backlog stood at 3,85,716 cases across 28 commissions.
TN's commission registered 22,946 appeals and complaints and disposed of 23,808 between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. Tamil Nadu had the fifth-highest pendency among the commissions assessed.
Though disposals exceeded registrations by 862, the figures do not establish whether its overall backlog increased or decreased during the period.
Maharashtra had the highest backlog at 77,397 cases, followed by Chhattisgarh with 52,559 and Bihar with 42,243. The Central Information Commission (CIC) had 39,121 pending cases, a 62 per cent increase.
Tamil Nadu ranked third in disposals, behind Maharashtra with 54,985 and Karnataka with 38,656.
The estimated waiting time for a fresh appeal was two years and three months at the CIC, compared with one year and seven months in Tamil Nadu.
The projected delay was six years and seven months in Bihar, 18 years in Chhattisgarh, and 19 years and two months in Madhya Pradesh. Fourteen commissions were estimated to take at least a year to dispose of an appeal filed on July 1, 2026.
SNS attributed the delays largely to vacancies in commissions and the slow rate of disposal by commissioners.
The report also identified serious institutional failures in Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh. Jharkhand's and Himachal Pradesh's commissions had been defunct since July 2025.
The assessment also questioned the practice of returning appeals and complaints without passing orders. Nine commissions returned 37,701 cases during the year, including 14,603 by the CIC and 14,140 by Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu reported no cases returned under this category.
The RTI Act does not prescribe a format for filing appeals or complaints. However, the Central Government and some State governments have prescribed formats and accompanying-document requirements through their rules.
SNS argued that deficiencies such as the absence of an index or page numbering should not become grounds for summarily returning cases, and called on commissions to help applicants correct such shortcomings.
Based primarily on 146 RTI applications filed with 29 Information Commissions, along with commission websites, annual reports and court filings, the assessment argued that prolonged delays undermine the RTI Act's objective.
It said the consequences were particularly serious for people dependent on government services who need information to secure basic entitlements.