Pune: Maharashtra continues to face one of the country’s largest RTI backlogs, with over 80,000 pending cases and three of the 11 sanctioned posts of information commissioners lying vacant, according to a status report by civil society groups.The report, which updated data till July 28, tracked the state’s compliance with the Supreme Court’s 2019 judgment regarding the Right to Information (RTI) Act.Even when the Maharashtra State Information Commission had disposed of 84,569 RTI appeals and complaints since April 2025, marking a slight dip in the backlog, the state continued to face scarcity of commissioners and a pendency burden.The report also recommends that all vacancies be filled in view of the mounting pendency. It places Maharashtra among the states with the highest RTI backlogs in the country, recording more than 80,000 pending second appeals and complaints as of Dec 31, 2025. It also underlined that, according to an affidavit filed by the state govt on April 25, 2026, the proposal to create additional posts of Information Commissioners remains pending, with no final decision taken despite the rising workload.Responding to the findings, State Chief Information Commissioner Rahul Bhalchandra Pandey said the commission had substantially improved its disposal rate after the posts of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and all State Information Commissioners (SIC) were filled on April 21, 2025.“After the post of CIC and all vacancies of SICs were filled on April 21 last year, the commission conducted hearings at all benches with full vigour. In such a short span, we have disposed of over 93% of the cases awaiting hearing by adopting hybrid and online hearing mode, proper classification of cases and deciding matters involving some applicants who had filed thousands of appeals across benches,” Pandey told TOI.The data shared by the commission, however, stated that the commission disposed of 74,011 second appeals and 10,558 complaints, taking the total number of disposals to 84,569, between April 21, 2025, and May 31, 2026.As of June 1, 2026, the commission had 66,036 second appeals and 14,240 complaints pending, taking the overall pendency to 80,276 cases. During the same period, it received 55,106 fresh second appeals and 7,810 complaints – a total of 62,916 fresh cases. With 84,569 disposals, the commission cleared 21,653 more cases than it received, resulting in a net reduction in the backlog.Pandey said the commission now plans to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) for efficiency. “It remained our endeavour to introduce AI in the RTI regime to make it fast, flawless and in tune with the vision of our Hon’ble Chief Minister and Hon’ble Prime Minister,” he said.RTI activist Vihar Durve said the improved disposal rate was encouraging, but stressed that pendency remained high. “Former CIC Shailesh Gandhi had an excellent disposal rate, and a similar approach should be followed. The same was the case with former state CIC Ratnakar Gaikwad,” he said.Activists said despite the commission’s improved performance, Maharashtra continued to have one of the country’s largest RTI backlogs. They urged the state govt to fill the three vacant commissioner posts without any further delay and take a decision on the proposal to create additional posts so that the commission can sustain the momentum and reduce waiting time for citizens seeking information.RTI Commission at a glanceSanctioned information commissioner posts: 11Posts filled: 8Vacant posts: 3Pending second appeals (as of June 1, 2026): 66,036Pending complaints (as of June 1, 2026): 14,240Total pending cases: 80,276Second appeals disposed (Apr 21, 2025-May 31, 2026): 74,011Complaints disposed (Apr 21, 2025-May 31, 2026): 10,558Total cases disposed (Apr 21, 2025-May 31, 2026): 84,569Fresh second appeals received: 55,106Fresh complaints received: 7,810Total fresh cases received: 62,916Net reduction in backlog: 21,653 casesMeasures adopted: Hybrid/online hearings, case classification, prioritisation of bulk appeals and hearings across all benches