Delhi plans system-driven auto-appeal mechanism under RTS Act

New Delhi: TheDelhi government on Monday has initiated steps to introduce a system-driven Auto-Appeal Mechanism under the Delhi Right of Citizens to Time-Bound Delivery of Services Act, 2011. A review meeting chaired by IT Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh was held at the Delhi Secretariat to examine statutory amendments and technical upgrades required for the reform.

The proposed initiative aligns with the Cabinet Secretariat’s Deregulation Exercise – Phase II, which encourages states to undertake regulatory and procedural reforms to strengthen ease of doing business and ensure efficient time-bound public service delivery systems.

During the meeting, the existing framework of the Delhi RTS Act was reviewed. Currently, 537 services are notified under the Act and monitored through the e-SLA portal. Under the present system, applicants must manually initiate an appeal if a service is delayed. Accountability is triggered only after prescribed timelines are breached and subsequent inquiries are conducted.

The proposed reform seeks to automate this process. Once the prescribed service timeline, or Service Level Agreement (SLA), expires, the system would automatically file an appeal without requiring any action from the applicant. The mechanism would also enable structured and time-bound escalation to higher authorities, supported by real-time dashboards and transparent monitoring tools.

The Haryana Right to Service framework, particularly its Auto-Appeal System, was discussed as a reference model. Haryana’s system provides automatic escalation, clearly defined penalty provisions and continuous digital oversight until resolution. Officials deliberated on adapting similar features within Delhi’s statutory and administrative structure.

The minister directed the department to conduct a comprehensive study of best practices adopted by other states before finalising the framework, with the aim of ensuring that Delhi’s model is legally sound, technologically advanced and administratively effective.