Right to Service Act in India

1. Right to Service Act in India
“The time-bound service legislation is a sharp-edged weapon.
to eliminate corruption from public offices”.
Author: Dr. Dimple Jindal[1]
Email: adv.jindaldimple@gmail.com
“The very performance of a duty secures us our right. Rights cannot be divorced from
duties. This is how satyagraha was born, for I was always striving to decide what my duty
was. If we all discharge our duties, rights will not be far to seek.” [2]
…Mahatma Gandhi
Abstract
“Right is duty well performed”. The Right to Service Act has empowered people to seek
hassle free, corruption-free, and time-bound service delivery mechanisms in government
offices. The main objective of this Act is to deliver time-bound services without any
hassle, which also improves the credibility of government offices. This act ensures fast
work and brings more transparency and credibility to the official workings of
government departments. One can say that this Act is one step ahead of the Right to

2. Information Act, 2005, and that this Act is a sharp-edged weapon to eliminate corruption
in government offices, bring transparency to official working, and enhance the
accountability of public servants.
Introduction
In India, there are statutory laws that guarantee the timely delivery of a variety of public
services provided by the government to citizens. These laws also include mechanisms
for punishing errant public employees who fail to provide the services required by law.
The purpose of the RTI Act is to improve transparency and public accountability while
decreasing corruption among public servants. On August 18, 2010, Madhya Pradesh
became the first Indian state to implement the Right to Service Act, and on July 25,
2011, Bihar became the second state to do so. Similar legislation has been introduced
in a number of other states, including Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh,
Kerala, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and West
Bengal, to implement the citizen’s right to service.
Rise of Corruption in India
Corruption is the root cause of the non-compliance of duties by government servants on
time. It has been observed that corruption is on the rise, and the officials embarrass the
people by wasting their time and not fulfilling their duties on time. They demand money
or seek other financial benefits from the people visiting their offices in consideration of
their routine job, and they don’t complete their task until they get paid for doing it.
Sometimes, they let the people visit the office again and again, but they didn’t
accomplish their job. The right to get service done in a time-bound manner may have
some deterrent effect, due to which the officers must accomplish their job within due
time. Registration of a birth certificate, approval of a map for the construction of any
building, installation of an electricity meter, etc. are all some of those services that are
routine in nature but very difficult to get done.
Right to Service Act in India
“While the Declaration of Rights was before the National Assembly, some of its
members remarked that if a declaration of rights were published, it should be
accompanied by a Declaration of Duties. The observation discovered a mind that
reflected, and it only erred by not reflecting far enough. A Declaration of rights is, by
reciprocity, also a Declaration of duties. Whatever is my right as a man is also the right
of another; and it becomes my duty to guarantee as well as to possess.”[3]

3. In India, the Right to Service Act is not fully developed yet. Some States have enacted
this legislation, but others have not yet. The foremost States enacting this law are
Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Jammu &
Kashmir, Orissa, Assam, Gujrat, West Bengal, Goa, and Maharashtra.
People are also not fully aware of their rights. They didn’t know how to use their right to
get the services done on time from the government officials, which otherwise they were
not ready to do easily.
Center Government Bill: Citizen’s Charter and Grievance Redressal Bill 2011
The Citizen’s Charter and Grievance Redressal Bill 2011, also known as The Right of
Citizens for Time-Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of Their
Grievances Bill, 2011 or the Citizens Charter Bill, was proposed by Indian central
legislation. It was tabled by V. Narayanasamy, Minister of State for Personnel, Public
Grievances, and Pensions, in the Lok Sabha in December 2011. The bill lapsed due to
the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
Application of Act in different States of India
Madhya Pradesh became the first state in India to enact the Right to Service Act on
August 18, 2010, and Bihar was the second to enact this bill on July 25, 2011. After that,
several other states like Delhi, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Jammu &
Kashmir, Orissa, Assam, Gujrat, West Bengal, Goa, and Maharashtra have introduced
similar legislation for effectuating the right to service to the citizen. In Punjab, it is
named “Right to Service Act, 2011”. In Delhi, it is named the “Delhi (Right of Citizen to
Time Bound Delivery of Services) Act, 2011”. And in other states, it is named under
different names and comes into force on different dates.
Right to Service Act in Punjab
With an ambition to provide delivery of services to the people of the states within
stipulated or reasonable time, the Punjab Govt. notified the Right to Service Ordinance
on July 14, 2011. The Ordinance came into force on July 28, 2011, when 67 services
were notified under its provisions. Soon after, the Punjab Right to Service Act-2011 [4]
(PRTS Act-2011) was passed by the State Assembly and thus, came into effect on
October 20, 2011.

4. Punjab Right to Service Act Commission
As per Section 12 of the PRTS Act-2011, there is a provision to constitute the Punjab
Right to Service Commission (PRTSC), consisting of 1 Chief Commissioner and 4
Commissioners who would look after the task of effective implementation of the Act.
PRTSC has been entrusted with the task of making suggestions to the state government
for ensuring better delivery of services. The Commission will also hear revision
applications against the orders of the 2nd Appellate Authority. The Commission has
been constituted since November 23, 2011.
Services under this Act
Different States have notified different services under their enacted Acts. Generally,
there are 65 services that were notified by the different governments, while starting the
act. But now these services have increased to 351 services. There is a provision for the
government to include more services in the ambit of this act in the future as well.
Time limit for some services
The following are some examples of services, along with the days allocated for their
completion within due time. In case of default, the officials liable to complete the task,
may be penalized as per Statutory provisions.
● Taking the copies of fard and jamabandi from the revenue department: 1 day
● Registration of all kinds of documents such as Sale deeds, Lease deeds, and GPA
Partnership deeds: 1 day
● Taking copies of Birth / Death certificates: 2 days for the current year and 5 days
for previous years.
● Taking a copy of the post-mortem report—3 days
● Issuing of a Driving License: 7 days
● Sanction of building plans: 30 days
Penal provisions
“Today everyone wants to know what his rights are, but if a man learns to discharge his
duties right from childhood and studies the sacred books of his faith, he automatically
exercises his rights too”. The Right to Public Services legislation in India comprises
statutory laws that guarantee time bound delivery of services for various public services
rendered by the Government to citizens and provide mechanisms for punishing the
errant public servant who is deficient in providing the service stipulated under the

5. statute. Right to Service legislation is meant to reduce corruption among government
officials and increase transparency and public accountability.
The common framework of the legislation in various states includes the granting of
“rights to public services”, which are to be provided to the public by the designated
official within the stipulated time frame. The public services that are to be granted as a
right under the legislation are generally notified separately through a gazette
notification. Some of the common services which are to be provided within the fixed
time frame as a right under the Acts includes issuing caste, birth, marriage and domicile
certificates, electric connections, voter’s cards, ration cards, copies of land records, etc.
On failure to provide the service by the designate officer within the given time or
rejection to provide the service, the aggrieved person can approach the First Appellate
Authority. The First Appellate Authority, after making a hearing, can accept or reject the
appeal by making a written order stating the reasons for the order and informing the
applicant of the same, and can order the public servant to provide the service to the
applicant.
An appeal can be made from the order of the First Appellate Authority to the Second
Appellate Authority, who can either accept or reject the application by making a written
order stating the reasons for the order and intimate the same to the applicant, and can
order the public servant to provide the service to the applicant or can impose penalty on
the designated officer for deficiency of services without any reasonable cause, which
can range from Rs. 500 to Rs. 5000, or may recommend disciplinary proceedings. The
applicant may be compensated out of the penalty imposed on the officer. The Appellate
Authorities have been granted certain powers of a civil court while trying a suit under
the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, like the production of documents and the issuance of
summonses to the Designated officers and appellants.
Comparison of Right to Service Act with other Statutes
The Right to Service Act is one step ahead of the Right to Information Act of 2005 and
the Prevention of Corruption Act in making government offices more hassle-free,
corruption-free, and efficient. The procedure for Trial and investigation under the
Prevention of Corruption Act is lengthy and time-consuming. While the Right to
Information Act of 2005 proves a milestone in bringing transparency to the official
workings, The Right to Service Act will prove another milestone in removing corruption
from government offices. But it will take time, as the public is not fully aware of this Act.
The powers are completely in the hands of the public under the provisions of this Act.
The Public officer is duty bound to do his duty within the stipulated time, with no other

6. option to avoid the penalty. The Right to Information Act, 2005, brings only transparency,
but the Right to Service Act makes the work fast (in a reasonable time).
Conclusion and Suggestions
If this act is passed in every state Assembly of India and as a Center Govt. Act (in both
Upper and Lower House) also, and by awareness programs, we make this Act familiar to
every citizen, then every public servant will have a fear in his/her mind while performing
his duty. He or she will not keep pending any matter, as he or she knows that it would
attract a penalty in contravention of this Act.
Secondly, this will remove corruption from the offices. I think a corruption-free India is
the dream of every citizen. Corruption is the main hindrance to the development of the
nation. Earlier, the government officials had a routine to keep the matters pending for so
many months with them, and people opted for the method of “Money Mantra” to do the
work easier or even during off-hours working hours. In that case, these public servants
give their personal attention and serve the people in their off time also, because they
know that they will get extra money for that duty. So, this is a routine in the government
offices to make the case pending and collect the money to do the duty fast. This act will
stop this practice. So, this Act will prove a strong weapon to remove corruption from
government offices and ensure fast working in these offices.
Due to a lack of awareness, this act is not well known to everyone. Even this act has not
been passed by some states in India till now. In states where this Act is passed by the
government, there are not so many complaints lodged by the People. The government
should arrange for awareness seminars on the Right to Service Act at public places.
Colleges, societies, and Other Institutions should come forward for the arrangement of
these seminars, which will bring more awareness to the public and create a fear in the
minds of public servants to perform their duties within the stipulated time. The author
makes an appeal to every citizen and all readers of this article to start a new wave of
publicizing this Act to unknown persons (especially illiterate persons). If everybody
comes forward and joins hands to popularize this legislation and make it more effective,
surely one day our country will be corruption free and the working environment of our
government offices will be different from today.
[1] Director and Controller of the online portal of https://juscuriam.com/
[2] Gandhi on freedom, rights and responsibility, available at:
https://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/freedom.htm (Visited on August 20, 2023).

7. [3] Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man
[4] Punjab Clears Right to Service Act, available at: Hindu.com
(Visited on August 20, 2023).