In exercise of the
power conferred by sub-section (1) of section 28 of the Maharashtra Right to
Public Services Act, 2015 (Mah. XXXI of 2015), the Government of Maharashtra
hereby makes the following rules, the same having been previously published as
required by sub-section (i) of section 28 of the said Act namely: These rules may be called the Maharashtra
Right to Public Services Rules, 2016. (1)
In
these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, (a)
"Act"
means the Maharashtra Right to Public Services Act, 2015; (b)
"Form"
means the forms appended to these rules; (c)
"section"
means section of the Act. (2)
Words
and expressions used, but not defined in these rules and defined in the Act,
shall have the same meanings, respectively, assigned to them in the Act. (1)
Every
Public Authority shall display or cause to display the list of public services
to be rendered by it, stipulated time limit, names of Designated Officers,
First Appellate Authorities and Second Appellate Authorities, Form or fee, if
any, on the notice-board of it's office and also on it's website or portal of
the Government or Department or office, if any. (2)
List
of documents that are required to be enclosed with the application form or
forms for receiving the service and the forms appended to these rules shall
also be displayed on the notice board of its office and also on website or
portal of the Government or Department or office. (3)
Such
display shall be in Marathi language and where needed in English language and
shall be placed at conspicuous place so that visitor is able to notice it
easily. (4)
In
the event of non-display of such information in the public domain or office or
website or portal, the Chief Commissioner or the concerned Commissioner may
take suo moto cognizance and initiate appropriate action against the concerned
office or Department or Designated Officer. The concerned administrative department, with
the concurrence of the General Administration Department may, by an order,
extend the stipulated time limit for notified public services under section 3
of the Act for specific period of time mentioned in the order, if necessary,
during elections of local authorities, State Legislature, Parliament or in the
event of natural calamities like earthquake, flood, fire or any other such
natural calamity. The Designated Officer may authorise, by
order, any of his subordinate officer or employee to receive the applications
made by the eligible persons to obtain any notified service under the Act and
issue the acknowledgment thereof to the applicant. The name of such subordinate
officer or employee who is duly authorised to receive the applications shall
also be displayed on the notice board or on website or portal of the Department
or office. On receipt of an application for public
service by an eligible person, the Designated Officer or the authorised
subordinate officer or employee, as the case may be, shall give acknowledgment
to the applicant in Form I. In case, any document required for providing the
service has not been enclosed with the application, the same shall be clearly
mentioned in the acknowledgement and the stipulated time limit for providing
such service shall start from the date of production of the required document. (1)
Every
Public Authority shall prepare the Form of Application for obtaining public
service in case the same is not provided under the provisions of the concerned
Act, Rules, Notifications, Orders, Government Resolutions or any other
Instrument. (2)
The
Application Form shall be in Marathi and English language. The list of
documents to be furnished along with the Application Form should be mentioned
in the form itself. (3)
The
Application Forms shall be easily available at the office of the Designated
Officer and at the office of in charge of SETU Suvidha Kendra, Mah E-seva
Kendra, Sangram Centre and any other Citizen Service Centres. Copy of the said
application forms shall also be made available on the website of the office or
Department or Aaple Sarkar portal which could be downloaded on mobile apps or
online. (4)
The
Designated Officer shall ensure that only necessary information for receiving public
services is sought from the applicant. (5)
The
Designated Officer shall ensure that, as far as possible, only the complete
applications with necessary documents are accepted at the time of submission of
the application. Application submitted online shall also be accepted by the
Designated Officer. (6)
The
application shall be duly acknowledged by the Designated Officer or its
sub-ordinate officer or employee authorised by him, specifying date, time and
place of receipt, unique identification number, name of the employee receiving
the application, stipulated time within which the public services will be
provided. (7)
If
the application is received manually the acknowledgement of the same shall be
given manually. If the application is received through online portal facility,
the acknowledgement shall be through email or SMS or any other electronic
means. Online acknowledgement will also be treated as acknowledgement given to
the applicant. The applicant is required to make payment of
a fee, if any, for each service as notified by the concerned authority from
time to time, either directly to the Authority or through electronic facility
available online for availing of service. In case, where the concerned Designated
Officer, for valid reasons comes to the conclusion that the notified public
services cannot be provided to the applicant, the same shall be intimated to
the applicant with the reasons, in writing, within a stipulated time limit provided
to give the particular service for which the application has been made. Along
with the intimation of rejection, the name and designation of Appellate
Authority, its address along with all available contact information of the
Appellate Authority, time limit within which the appeal may be made shall also
be mentioned. If the application is made online then rejection order shall be
sent to the applicant online or on mobile apps. (1)
The
Public Authority shall, as far as possible, create a mechanism for monitoring
the status of applications using the unique identification number provided to
the applicant. (2)
The
Public Authority shall, as far as possible, create a mechanism through which
timely updates on the status of application can be sent to the eligible person
through SMS or email or through any other means so that the eligible person who
has applied for the services will be able to monitor the status of his
application online. (1)
An
appeal to the First Appellate Authority under sub-section (1) of section 9
shall be filed in Form II, either manually or online. (2)
An
appeal to the Second Appellate Authority under sub-section (3) of section 9
shall be filed in Form III, either manually or online. (1)
Along
with the first or second appeal, the appellant shall enclose the following
documents, namely: (a)
List
of documents enclosed with the appeal. (b)
Self
attested copy of the order against which the first or second appeal is being
made. (c)
Copies
of the documents relied upon and referred to by the appellant in the first or
second appeal. The notice of hearing of the first or the
second appeal, as the case may be, shall be served in any of the following
manners: (i)
by
hand delivery through special messenger or process server; (ii)
by
registered post with due acknowledgement; (iii)
online
through email or SMS or Mobile Apps; (iv)
in
case of Government Servant, through his controlling officer or online or email
or SMS or Mobile Apps. (1)
In
all first or second appeals, the date of hearing shall be communicated to the
appellant and the Designated Officer as well as to the First Appellate
Authority in case of Second Appeal, at least seven clear days in advance. (2)
If
any party remains absent even after due service of notice of hearing, then the
appeal shall be disposed of in his absence. While deciding the appeal, the Appellate
Authority shall, (i)
summon
the Designated Officer and appellant at the time of hearing of Appeal; (ii)
scrutinise
the relevant documents or copies thereof; (iii)
hear
the Designated Officer and the appellant at the time of hearing of the appeal. (1)
The
order in the first or second appeal shall be in writing. (2)
Copy
of the order in appeal shall be given to the appellant who has filed the
appeal, Designated Officer or the First Appellate Authority, as the case may
be. The Designated Officer, the First Appellate
Authority and the Second Appellate Authority shall maintain Register of the
cases in Form IV, either manually or in electronic form. The appeal against the order of the Second
Appellate Authority shall be filed to the Commission in Form V. (1)
The
officers and employees appointed on deputation to office of Chief Commissioner
or Commissioners from any Department of the State Government, Board,
Corporation or other statutory body of the State Government, shall be paid such
salaries and allowances as admissible to them under the rules applicable to
them and they shall be governed under the said rules and relevant instructions
issued by the State Government, from time to time. (2)
The
rules governing conditions of service and disciplinary matter of the State
Government employees shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to the other officers and
other employees of the Commission. (3)
The
term of office of the other officers and other employees shall be such as the
State Government may specify by order: MAHARASHTRA RIGHT TO PUBLIC SERVICES RULES,
2016
PREAMBLE