RTI Exemption for Commercial Confidence

Section 8(1)(d) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 protects information involving commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property when disclosure would harm the competitive position of a third party. It is a conditional exemption, because disclosure may still be ordered when the competent authority finds that larger public interest warrants it.

Scope of the exemption

The exemption protects commercially sensitive information only when the required harm to competition is established. Information does not become exempt merely because it concerns commercial activity or was supplied by a private entity.

• The protected categories are commercial confidence, trade secrets and intellectual property.
• The decisive test is whether disclosure would harm the competitive position of a third party.
• In an appeal, Section 19(5) places the burden of proving that denial was justified on the Central or State Public Information Officer.

Public interest and partial disclosure

Commercial confidentiality must be balanced against the public interest in transparency and accountability.

• Under Section 8(1)(d), larger public interest can justify disclosure despite the commercial harm.
• Under Section 8(2), access may be allowed when the public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interest.
• Under Section 10, non-exempt portions of a record must be disclosed when they can reasonably be severed from exempt material.

Third-party consultation

Where information relates to, or was supplied by, a third party and was treated as confidential, Section 11 provides a consultation procedure before a disclosure decision. The third party may make representations, but its objection is not an absolute veto because the final decision remains subject to the Act's exemption and public-interest tests.