RTS Commission too can impose penalty Punjab amends RTS Act

Chandigarh, May 23, 2014: The Punjab Government has notified the amendment in Punjab Right to Service Act 2011 extending power of imposing penalty to the Commission too that was earlier only with second Appellate Authority.

An official spokesman said that Governance Reforms department has been successfully implementing the act but there were some practical problems which comes due to insufficient powers of penalty to the Commission as per the Act. He said that presently power of imposing penalty to defaulters was only available to the second Appellate Authority, which hampered the proceedings of the Commission.

The spokesperson said that the Government felt that due to insufficient powers of imposing penalty vested with the Commission, grieved persons may not get justice and the department would also not achieve the objectives as desired. In order to remove these difficulties the Punjab government amended the Punjab Right to Service Act-2011 and inserted new clause 17 (h) below section 17 (1) (g) of Act and power of imposing penalty now be available to the Commission also.

The Punjab government was the first State to enact RTS as this Act enabled the Government to lay down legally enforceable time limits for delivery of various citizen services and provided mechanism for redressal in case the service was not provided in time, or is denied without good and sufficient reasons. With the passage of time government faced some practical problems that came due to insufficient powers of penalty to the Commission as per the Act. Presently power of imposing penalty to defaulters is only available to the Second Appellate Authority under the Act,that made the Commission's position weak necessitating this amendment.