Delhi : The Delhi (Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services) Act, 2011

Recently, the Delhi government’s Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services Act, 2011 b has come into force. The citizens of the capital region are now entitled to receive compensation for delays in services rendered by 32 city departments and agencies. Any delay will invoke a penalty of Rs 10 per day upto Rs 200. And this amount will be deducted from the salary of erring officers and paid to the complainant. This amount will be deducted from their salary and paid to the applicant as compensation. Renewal of driving licenses must now be done in a day’s time, discoms are now bound to process power connection application in not more than five weeks and a birth/death certificate must be issued within seven days.

• With this, Delhi has become the first state to enact the Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services act.
• Delhi has also become the first state to have an e-monitoring system where citizens can track their applications and check for delays online. Every applicant will be issued an ID number which can be used to track their application online or at neighborhood Jeevan Centres. If their application is cleared, the status will show ‘disposed’ on the portal. ‘If there is a delay, the penalty option will get activated’.

Apart from the on-the-spot compensation to be paid to citizens who have suffered delay in service, the act also encompasses the cash incentives to the efficient employees not exceeding Rs 5,000. The Bill was cleared by the Delhi assembly during the budget session in March2011. The government was dragging its feet on notifying it till the Anna Hazare agitation made corruption the top national issue, prompting chief minister Sheila Dikshit to bring in the law.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2011