Tuesday, February 06, 2007

RIGHT TO INFORMATION - PRIVATE FIRMS NOT EXEMPTED

Well this is really a welcome news in India , if your bank; ICICI or HDFC , your telecome service provider ; hutch or airtel were thinking that they need not worry about RTI act , they are wrong .

Mint ( http://www.livemint.com) - newspaper reports that these private organisations can be approached thru thier regulators for information of public interest .

"Thus, information on telecom companies such as Bharti Airtel, the largest mobile telephonyfirm, can be accessed through the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India; that on banks throughtheReserveBank of India; and on brokerages and foreign investors active in stockmarkets fromthe Securities and Exchange Board of India".
“Applicants have every right to seek information on a private company even though it is in the private sector, if it reports to a government body,” Ansari says,citing sections of the Act that made this possible.Only applications that served public interest would be dealtwith, not those that sought to erode a company’s competitive position, M.M Ansari , Information Commissioner says.
Themessage: you can ask a cola company for details on how much water it used and where the water camefrom, but not the formula of its fizzy drink"
So I think , private companies better be prepared and soon we may witness some interesting applications , Wanna know how your bank calculates that penalty / charges / late fees etc on your credit card ?
Message : Be transparent , clear , honest & true ; Be Great place to work for .

No comments: