Delhi's new Right to Service Act: Officers to pay Rs 250/day fine for delaying your work

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): A historic step has been taken to relieve the general public of the hassle of running around government offices and having files stuck for months. The Delhi government has officially notified the "Delhi (Right to Timely and Accessible Service Delivery) Act, 2026," with the aim of providing transparent, accountable, and timely services to citizens. This new law will replace the old service delivery rules of 2011. Under this law, negligent officials who fail to complete work within the stipulated time limit or reject applications without any valid reason will now be fined up to a maximum of Rs 5,000 at the rate of Rs 250 per day.

Time limit will be fixed for every service, designated officer will be directly responsible

With the implementation of the new law, Delhi residents have got the legal right to avail government services within a stipulated time period. The government will soon issue a notification listing all the civic services that will come under the ambit of this Act. A maximum time limit will be fixed for completion of every government service and a designated officer will be made directly responsible for that work. All the administrative departments of the Delhi government, autonomous bodies and local bodies like Municipal Corporation have been brought under this law, due to which now the officers will not be able to sit on files unnecessarily.

Digital tracking frees one from the hassle of visiting offices, reason for rejection of application has to be given in writing

For the convenience of citizens, the entire process has been integrated into online and digital system. Each application submitted on the portal will be given a unique identification number (Unique Application ID), through which citizens will be able to track the progress and status of their work online while sitting at home. It has been made mandatory for government departments to maintain digital records of all applications and update the status from time to time. Apart from this, if any officer rejects the application of any citizen, he will have to record clear and valid reason for it in writing.

If the work is not completed within the stipulated time, there will be an automatic appeal, the public will not have to wander around

The biggest and revolutionary feature of this law is its 'automatic escalation' model. If the designated officer does not complete the work within the stipulated time limit, the applicant will not need to wander around or apply again, rather his original application will automatically be registered as an appeal before the high-level Citizen Grievance Redressal Authority. A senior officer will be appointed as the redressal authority in every department, who will order the release of the service as well as fix the accountability of the officer causing the delay.

The appeal will have to be settled within 30 days, Delhi Service Rights Commission will keep a close watch

The departmental authority will have to settle this suo motu appeal within 30 days under all circumstances. If the authority is also unable to find a solution within this stipulated time, then the matter will automatically reach the Delhi Service Rights Commission. This commission will hear the second appeal as well as keep an eye on the effective implementation of the entire law. The commission will have wide powers to conduct surprise inspections of government offices, recommend departmental action against erring officers, give instructions for improvement in the administrative system and in serious cases take suo motu cognizance and set up an inquiry.