IT majors queue up to invest in RTI call centres

Centre’s proposal to make the process of filing RTI applications easy through a state-of the-art-call centre has received an overwhelming response from several blue-chip IT companies, who have expressed willingness to participate in a bid to set up around 2,000 call centres across the country.

“We have got good response on the proposal. Many firms, including TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Spanco among others have approached us. The pre-qualification bid will be opened on July 20,” sources in the DoPT said.

The ambitious proposal ‘RTI Call Centre and Portal Project’ of the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) aims to better the RTI service delivery.

As per the Request for Proposal (RFP) floated by the DoPT, the selected company will set up, operate and maintain an RTI call centre to facilitate voice calls, SMS and develop a portal for filing applications.

Once operational, information through RTI applications will be just a phone call away.

“Anyone seeking information through RTI can make a call to the call centre from any telephone number. The call centre agent will provide required information on the RTI and if application is to be filed, will collect RTI details along with mandatory information including, name, address and desired questions,” DoPT request for proposal stated.

The DoPT will run the entire project as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) .

The private company will have the responsibility of setting up and operating the call centres, for which the Centre will be pay the private company a fixed amount depending on the call duration. An amount of `30 per will be paid by the DoPT if the call duration is less than 15 minutes. If it exceeds 15 minutes, a deduction of 10 per cent will be applicable. The applicant will have to pay for his or her application through the existing phone bill plan. The amount will automatically be deducted if it a pre paid phone.

“The centralised process of RTI collection will also save time spent by the department and ministry on each application. The portal will facilitate the real-time monitoring of RTI applications filed anywhere in the country,” sources said.