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The Central Information Commission launched the upgraded Appeal and Complaint Management System (AppCoMS 2.0) in New Delhi on 17 August 2026.
The portal handles Second Appeals and Complaints under the Right to Information Act, 2005 — registration, scheduling, notices and decision uploads.
The original AppCoMS was introduced in September 2016.
The upgrade gives Central Public Information Officers their own accounts to access case details and file documents, and integrates Digital Signature Certificates for signing notices and orders.
Online filing of second appeals and complaints had resumed on 4 August 2026; submissions made between 4 and 16 August will be processed on the new system.
An applicant files a request with the Central Public Information Officer of a public authority, who must normally respond within 30 days — or within 48 hours where life or liberty is at stake. If the reply is refused, incomplete or absent, the applicant files a First Appeal with the First Appellate Authority within that public authority. A Second Appeal goes to the Central Information Commission for central public authorities, or to the relevant State Information Commission. The Commission is the apex appellate body under the Act, and can also entertain complaints directly.
Simple Analogy: Three rungs: the officer who holds the file, that officer's senior, and then an independent commission outside the department altogether.
Apex appellate authority under the RTI Act, 2005 for central public authorities; hears second appeals and complaints
Creates the statutory right to seek information from public authorities and establishes the Central and State Information Commissions
Removed the fixed five-year tenure and the salary parity written into the parent Act, leaving the term and service conditions of the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners to be prescribed by the Central Government; the rules set the term at three years
Provides the legal basis for Digital Signature Certificates, which AppCoMS 2.0 now uses to sign notices and orders
GS Paper 2 > Governance > Transparency and accountability; statutory bodies
General Awareness > Indian Polity > RTI
General Awareness > Polity
Appeal and Complaint Management System, the CIC's online case-management platform, introduced in September 2016 and upgraded to 2.0 in August 2026
Central Public Information Officer, the officer designated in each central public authority to furnish information under the RTI Act
The appeal filed before the Information Commission after the First Appellate Authority within the public authority has decided or failed to decide
An electronic credential used to authenticate documents under the Information Technology Act, 2000