Delhi Assembly passes Bill for time bound service delivery; officers liable to pay penalty on delay
Designated officers of the Delhi government will pay penalties of Rs 249 per day, upto a total of Rs 5,000, if found responsible for delaying or unreasonably rejecting applications for time-bound delivery of services, according to the Delhi (Right of Citizen to Time Bound and Ease of Delivery of Services) Bill, 2026, passed by the Assembly on Tuesday, August 11.
Under the legislation, time-bound delivery of services will be treated as a legal right of the people. The government will constitute a Delhi Right to Service Commission, while senior officers will be deputed as citizen grievance redressal authority at department level, to deal with complaints of the people.
In case of breach of stipulated timelines for delivery of various services, an appeal will be automatically lodged before the authority. In case of rejection of an application, the applicant will require to file an online appeal before the authority concerned.
If the authority finds that the default in providing a service is wrong and unreasonable, it will direct the designated officer to provide it within seven day. The appeals will be decided by the authority within 30 days.
The authority will also issue a show cause notice to the designated officer seeking his reply why a penalty should not be imposed against him.
The designated officer will submit his reply within seven days and if it is found "unsatisfactory", the authority may through an order, impose a penalty against him.
No penalty will be imposed on any designated officer without giving them a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
The penalty will be recovered from the salary of the designated officer, according the legislation.
The penalty amount will be Rs 250 per day subject to a maximum of Rs 5,000.
In case the authority itself fails to follow the stipulated timeline in dealing with the appeals, the applicant may appeal before the Delhi Right to Service Commission.
The Commission may confirm, modify or set aside the orders passed by the Authority. The order of the Commission will be final and binding.
The Public Grievance Commission will discharge the functions of the Right to Service Commission till it is set up by the government.
It will have a chairman and three members. Implementation of the time bound delivery of service Act will be duty of the Commission. It will also be authorised to penalties on designated officer or or any other officials involved in the process.
The Bill passed by the Assembly will replace the Delhi (Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services) Act, 2011.
It was found that the Act was inadequate to enforce stipulated timelines due to absence of effective monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.
The new legislation introduces a comprehensive mechanism of fixing responsibility of government officials, automatic escalation mechanism and provides for constitution of a Right to Service Commission.
Delhi IT minister Pankaj Singh replying to a discussion on the legislation in the Assembly, that its objective is to ensure that citizen do not have to repeatedly visit government offices to access services.
During the discussion, ruling BJP MLAs lauded the Bill, saying it will make governance more accountable and citizen-centric. BJP MLA Ajay Mahawar said that the Bill stipulated delivery of several services within three days and the penalty for violations by officials were raised from Rs 10 per day to 250 per day.
Opposition AAP MLA Anil Jha said that the role of agencies like Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Delhi Police that do not come under jurisdiction of Delhi government should also be specifically categories in the Bill.
The Bill was passed after discussion, by a voice vote in the House.
