Should information related to technical and price bids be disclosed under RTI?
27 Apr, 2013
Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Union Bank of India (UBI) seeking information relating to a bank branch such as, about rain water harvesting systems; technical and price bids . The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided some information and denied the rest on grounds of commercial confidence and also stated that no larger public interest warranted the disclosure of such information under section 8(1)(d)
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, 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;
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, 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;
of the RTI Act.
Proceedings
During the hearing the before Central Information Commission (CIC), the respondent stated the information sought was of commercial confidence and that no larger public interest was warranted in the disclosure of such information. Hence, information was denied under section 8(1)(d)
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, 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;
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, 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;
of the RTI Act. The respondent also stated that some other points were not seeking information as per section 2(f)
“information” means 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;
of the RTI Act.
View of CIC
The Commission held that the information related to technical and price bids could not be provided as they give layout and security plans, including for fortification, steel works, lockers and currency chests.
Citation: Mr. Harinder Dhingra v. Union Bank of India in Decision No. CIC/VS/A/2012/000059/02687
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1229
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission