Now CA students get Answer
Sheet copies at Free of Cost and CMA students at nominal cost under RTI :
Supreme Court Orders!
Dear Friends,
RTI Act is the most
revolutionary act for setting out the practical regime of Right to Information,
the 3 Key building pillars behind the act are Responsibility, Transparency and
Accountability, which empowered Indian Citizens to secure access to information
directly from the Government/Public Authorities.
In this article, I have penned
down various Hon’ble Supreme Court judgements, provisions of
the RTI Act, 2005 and procedure to apply for certified copies through RTI
portal,
application format, payment of fees etc., for students and members to obtain
certified copies from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI),
ICMAI and ICSI at a nominal cost.
ICAI / ICMAI procedure to
obtain Certified Copies
As you are aware of the
process to obtain certified copies as per the Institute procedure, where a
student has to apply online for seeking Inspection/Certified copies of answer
books within 30 days from the date of declaration of the result of the relevant
examination along with the Fee of Rs. 500/- per paper and certified copies of your
answer books will be provided within 30 days from the date of receipt of your
application.
The above Institute
procedure is an expensive one and a student has got to pay Rs. 500/- per paper
for Inspection/ Certified copies.
For example, if a CA Final student
desires to apply for certified copies of all the 8 subjects, he has to incur
Rs. 4,000/- (Rs.500 per subject × 8 subjects) which is more than the
Examination fee i.e., Rs. 3,300/-
RTI procedure to obtain
Certified Copies
To enable easy access to the
information, the Right to Information Act, 2005 provides access to certified
copies of answer sheets at a nominal cost and inspection at free of cost.
RTI Act is in force since
2005, every year many students are applying for certified copies under the RTI
Act, 2005 but, Institute has been denying the answer-scripts to the candidates
and compels candidates to seek their answer-scripts as per Institute procedure
which provides for the cost of Rs. 500/- per subject.
A similar case has happened
with ICSI and Mr. Paras Jain, a student of ICSI, fought tirelessly for 7 years
and went to the Supreme Court. And on 14th of April, 2019 Supreme Court in the
judgement ICSI Vs. Paras Jain, made clear that, a candidate is free to apply
for certified copies under the RTI Act, 2005 or as per the procedure laid down
by the Institute and fee as to be charged as per the RTI rules when an
application is made under the RTI Act, 2005 but not as per the Institute
guidelines.
ICAI guidelines and fee for certified copies
as per the RTI Act, 2005.
As per the announcement No.13-CA(Exams)/WdngPlcy/2012
dated November 16, 2012 answer books of the examination conducted by ICAI are
retained for a period of four months (120) days from the date of declaration of
result of the relevant examination and in regulation 39(4), Institute has
specifically mentioned that a student can seek verification, inspection and/or
certified copy of answer books under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
Whether ICAI will provide certified copies
under RTI?
YES!
To establish and follow the law laid down by
Supreme Court, ICAI appointed CPIOs (Central Public Information Officer) exclusively
for providing certified copies under the RTI Act, 2005 to the students and
members. The concerned CPIO list was updated on ICAI website dated 29th Aug,
2019.
CPIO for Providing certified copies related
to CA Final Examination/ Post Qualification Examination conducted by
Examination Department
Shri Alok Malhotra
Email Id: alok.malhotra@icai.in
Tel. No.: 0120-3894808
CPIO for Providing certified copies related
to CA IPCC/Foundation/CPT
Shri Chatar Singh
Email Id: chatar @icai.in
Tel. No.: 0120-3054840
Whether any fee is required to be paid for
certified copies under RTI:
To enable easy access to the
information, the Right to Information Act, 2005 provides access to certified
copies of answer sheets at a nominal cost and inspection at free of cost.
Rule 4 of the RTI Rules, 2012, prescribes a
fee for information as follows:
1.
Application
fee:
While making RTI applications, the payment of RTI Fees of Rs. 10/- needs to be made and the same is waived off for applicants falling below the poverty line by producing the proof of BPL Category.
2.
Additional
Fee for Inspection/Certified Copies:
Inspection
of Records
|
-
No fee for the first hour;
-
a fee of ₹.5.00 for each subsequent hour or
a fraction thereof.
|
For each page (in A-4 or A-3 size paper)
|
-
₹ 2.00 per page of photocopy
|
For information in Soft Copy (PDF) format
|
-
Free of Cost
|
How to apply for certified copies through RTI
Portal?
A candidate can make an online application at
his doorsteps without visiting any office, though user registration is not
mandatory to file RTI application, I suggest you create an account at RTI
online site, so that you can have a list of applications in user account and
details like name, email, the address will be auto-filled while filing RTI
application.
1.
Create account and login to your RTI portal by entering Username and
Password at below link https://rtionline.gov.in/
2.
Now, click on submit request option, scroll down and click on the
checkbox “I have read and understood the above guidelines.” and then click on
the submit button.
Then Online RTI Request Form screen will be
displayed. This form can be used to file an online RTI application.
3.
In search Public Authority filed enter keyword as
-
Chartered
and select Institute of Chartered Accountant of India for CA Course
-
Cost accountant and select The Institute of Cost Accountants of India CMA Course
-
Companies secretaries and select Institute of Companies Secretaries of India for CS Course
students, from the drop-down list and click on Ok.
Name, address, educational qualifications,
communication details will be auto-filled, if you have created account at RTI
portal and you can change the same, if required.
4.
In the field “Is the Applicant Below Poverty Line?”
·
Select the option as Yes, if you belong to BPL - Below
Poverty Line category and holds valid proof for the same as Food security Card,
ration card etc.,
No
application fee is required to be paid by such citizens as per RTI Rules,2012
Enter
BPL card number, year of issue, issuing authority in the next field.
·
Select the option as No, if you do not fall under the BPL
category or does not hold valid proof for the same. Such candidates are
required to be paid application fee of Rs.10/- online.
5.
Now in the filed “Text for RTI Request application”, provide details and
request for certified copies.
There is no prescribed form of the
application under the Act, 2005 but, I have referred to application formats of
various institutes and have prepared a draft for your reference.
Download the draft application from the below link, in the word document
format, enter your details and copy-paste the contents in the prescribed field.
(Application format is given at the end of the article for your
reference)
Please note, handwritten application form is
not required, Institute process and RTI process both are different platforms.
6.
Now, upload merged pdf copy of BPL Card (if applicable) and Hall Ticket/
Admit Card/ any other supporting document like student I’d card, to prove your
identity by clicking the supporting document.
7.
click on submit button (if BPL category) or Make payment button (Others)
to make the payment of Rs. 10/- towards application fee by using Internet banking,
credit or debit card and click on the submit button, after making the payment.
8.
On submission of the application, a unique registration number would be
issued, which may be referred by the applicant for any references in future.
The applicant will get an email and SMS alert on submission of the application.
What’s next after filing RTI application?
-
Just relax and wait for 30 days from the date of your
application.
-
You are not required to follow-up with the CPIO/ Institute by way
of calls, email etc., On receipt of application, Institute will transfer the
application to respective CPIO for further action.
For CA Students:
-
Within 30days from the date of your RTI application, you will receive an
email from the institute with the link and login credentials to download the
requested certified copies.
-
No fee is required to be paid, as certified copies will be provided in soft
copy format, no fee is to be charged as per RTI rules.
-
As per ICAI sources, before providing certified copies/inspection of
evaluated answer books to the examinees under RTI, verification of
answer books, within the scope of Regulation 39(4), will be carried out, by the
office, suo motu, in respect of all applications for inspection and/or
certified copy of evaluated answer books under the RTI Act, 2005. As per RTI
rules, there is no requirement for suo-moto verification of marks before
providing certified copies.
-
So, I suggest applying for
-
Verification as per ICAI procedure by paying Rs.100 per subject at ICAI
exam portal - https://icaiexam.icai.org/. So that you can know the outcome of the
verification of marks.
-
Certified Copies at RTI portal
-
Please note that re-evaluation of answers is not permissible under
Regulation 39(4)of the CA Regulations 1988. So, there is no difference between the
certified copy obtained as per ICAI process and RTI process.
-
Below is the copy of email received from ICAI, with link and login
credentials to download the certified copies.
-
Within 30days from the date of your RTI application, in reply to your
RTI application ICMAI will calculate the fees by charging Rs. 2 per page +
applicable postal charges and disclose the total fees to be paid.
-
Applicable Fee is required to be paid, as certified copies will be provided in hard
copy format through speed post, Rs. 2 per page is to be charged as per RTI
rules.
-
NO Demand Draft/IPO is required to be taken, as you can make the payment at RTI portal
itself by clicking on Make Payment link available post login to RTI portal
under view status.
-
As per ICMAI sources, no verification of answer books will be
done, there is no such requirement as per RTI rules.
-
So, I suggest applying for
-
Verification as per ICMAI procedure by paying Rs.253 per subject at ICMAI
exam portal, so
that you can know the outcome of the verification of marks.
-
Certified Copies at RTI portal
-
Please note that re-evaluation of answers is not permissible as per
Institute guidelines. So, there is no difference between the certified copy obtained as per
ICAI process and RTI process.
-
Below is the copy of reply received from ICMAI, seeking additional fee
payment with payment link at RTI portal.
What if, you have noticed a
mistake/discrepancy in the certified copies received through RTI?
After receiving certified copies, if there
any discrepancies, you can report the same to ICAI through physical
application via speed post in below format:
No fee is payable in such cases and such a request must be made within 30
days of issue of certified copies.
Only discrepancy as covered under Regulation 39(4) will be entertained i.e.
(i)
no totaling error;
(ii)
no carrying over of
marks from inside to the cover page of the answer book;
(iii)
no question or part
thereof has remained unevaluated.
If you have further queries, please read our Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ) with respect to obtaining certified copies under RTI, which was prepared
after analyzing 100’s of comments to our article and queries on mail.
(LINK OF THE ARTICLE)
Conclusion
Accessing certified copies through RTI is a thumping
Victory for the entire Students Community!
My sincere gratitude is reserved for Advocate
Paras Jain sir, Advocate Kumar Shanu sir and Whistle For Public
Interest (WHIP) for their invaluable insights and suggestions benefitting
millions of students to access information of answer-scripts under RTI.
If you’ve have any questions, you can reach
me on mail: cavinayreddy@icai.org or mobile(preferably on WhatsApp) +91
7569989230 I can help you out.
Thank you!
Vinay Reddy
Jai Hind!
Right to Information is to make you right
thinking Indians
Application format for seeking certified
copies/inspection of evaluated answer books
The Additional Secretary (Exams)
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of
India
ICAI Bhawan
Indraprastha Marg
New Delhi 110 002
Subject: Photocopy of Answer book of the Board
Examinations under the RTI Act, 2005
Dear Sir,
I have appeared for CA Foundation/ IPCC/
Intermediate/ Final Examination conducted by the board with following
particulars: -
1.
Name of the candidate:
2.
Date of Birth:
3.
Fathers Name:
4.
Contact no:
5.
E-mail address:
6.
Address for correspondence:
7.
Student Registration No:
8.
Examination:
CPT/ Intermediate (IPC)/ Final/ ISAAT/ IRM/ ITL & WTO/ MAC/ CMC/ TMC
Month :
Year
:
Roll No :
Paper No. : Subject
01 :
02 :
03 :
04 :
05 :
06 :
07 :
08 :
The self-attested photocopy of my admit card/
hall ticket is enclosed for verification of my identity. I also undertake that
I am the same candidate who appeared in the aforesaid examination. I hereby
declare and affirm that the details mentioned above relate to me only and are
true to the best of my knowledge and belief. The information may kindly be
provided at the given address.
Yours faithfully
(Name)
(Student Registration Number)
(Name)
(Student Registration Number)
Credits :- Sir CA B Vinay Reddy
0 Comments