Chandigarh, Sept. 18 -- The Punjab State Information Commission has imposed a Rs.5,000 penalty each on two public information officers (PIOs) of the regional transport office (RTO), Amritsar, for repeatedly failing to comply with the commission's directions and remaining absent from five consecutive appeal hearings.

State information commissioner Harpreet Sandhu imposed the penalties under Section 20(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, on Khushdil Singh, then RTO-cum-PIO, RTO, Amritsar, and Mandeep Singh Sohi, ATO-cum-PIO, RTO Amritsar, in appeal case of 2024.

The order came after the appellant informed the commission that the information sought under the RTI Act had still not been furnished despite repeated hearings. During the p...