RTI in Assam: Land Records (Dag/Jamabandi), APDCL Electricity, and Revenue Administration

Assam presents a distinct RTI landscape compared to most Indian states. Its land records carry nomenclature rooted in the Bengal land administration tradition, its single statewide electricity distribution company operates under a name few outside the northeast recognise, and it has an acute contemporary reason — the National Register of Citizens process — that has made access to old revenue documents a matter of intense personal urgency for millions of residents. This guide is a focused companion to the general Assam RTI overview. It goes deep on the three areas where RTI requests from Assam citizens cluster most: land records, APDCL electricity matters, and the question of which bodies sit under the Assam Information Commission and which fall under the Central Information Commission.

Land Records in Assam: The Framework

Assam's land administration is governed primarily by the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation Act, 1886, as amended over the decades. The terminology can confuse applicants from other states, so it is worth setting out clearly.

Key Terms

Dag number: The basic cadastral plot identifier in Assam. A Dag number identifies a specific parcel of land within a mouza (a revenue village). If you know the mouza and the Dag number, you can locate the specific piece of ground on the revenue map and pull the corresponding record of rights.

Mouza: The lowest revenue administrative unit in Assam — equivalent to the revenue village in most other states. Each mouza has a Jamabandi register maintained at the Circle Office.

Jamabandi: The record of rights. This is the most important document in Assam's land administration. The Jamabandi for a given Dag shows: the name of the recorded owner (or the state, if Khas land), the name of the cultivator or tenant, the total area, the nature of the tenure, the classification of the land (agricultural, homestead, wasteland, etc.), and any encumbrances such as mortgages or court attachments. Think of it as the land's official CV.

Patta: The title deed issued to a landholder by the government. Assam has several types of Patta — Periodic Patta (issued for a specific period, renewable), Grant Patta (issued under various settlement and development schemes, typically to weaker sections), and Allotment Patta (issued under government allotment in specific programmes). Each carries different transfer restrictions and renewal conditions. The type of Patta governs what the holder can and cannot do with the land.

Namaantaran: Mutation — the process of updating the Jamabandi when ownership changes due to inheritance, sale, court decree, or government allotment. In Assam, Namaantaran is processed at the Revenue Circle level, and the Circle Officer (CO) — also referred to as Extra Assistant Commissioner (EAC) in some administrative areas — is the approving authority. A completed mutation is recorded in the Jamabandi and a certified copy can then be obtained.

The Revenue Hierarchy

Understanding the administrative chain matters for RTI because it tells you which officer holds which records.

At the base is the Village Level Worker (VLW), also called Patwari in many areas, who is the field-level custodian of village records and carries out ground inspections. Above the VLW is the Circle Inspector (CI), a supervisory field official. The Circle Officer (CO/EAC) is the frontline gazetted officer who approves mutations, certifies extracts, and hears initial revenue disputes — this officer is typically the CPIO for land record queries at circle level. Above the CO sits the Additional District Commissioner (ADC), and at the apex of district revenue administration is the Deputy Commissioner (DC).

For RTI, direct your application to the CPIO of the Revenue Circle Office for village-level records (Jamabandi, Dag, Namaantaran). For district-level compilations or policy-level information, the CPIO of the DC office is appropriate.

Char Land: A Distinctly Assamese Problem

Assam is transected by the Brahmaputra and its major tributaries, which carry extraordinary sediment loads. This creates a phenomenon unique in its scale to Assam: chars — riverine islands and silt accretions that appear, enlarge, shrink, and sometimes disappear entirely over years. Millions of people live on char land.

The legal status of char land is complicated. Land that has been newly formed from river accretion is generally classified as government land (Khas land) unless and until it is settled with an individual. In practice, chars are often occupied for generations before any formal settlement is made — or denied. Old chars that were previously settled and then submerged may re-emerge and be classified as Khas land again even if the original patta holder's descendants still live there.

RTI is heavily used by char residents for three specific questions: first, whether a particular char or plot within a char is currently recorded as Khas land or as privately-held Patta land; second, whether any government settlement or lease has been granted for a specific char; and third, the basis on which any eviction proceedings are being initiated.

File these requests to the CPIO of the relevant Circle Office (for the current Jamabandi classification) and to the DC Office (for any settlement or eviction proceedings at the district level).

NRC Context: Historical Land Records

The National Register of Citizens exercise in Assam required citizens to produce documents proving their or their ancestors' residency in Assam as of 24 March 1971. Land records — specifically old Jamabandi entries and Dag records, some dating back to the 1950s and earlier — became among the most important documents in this exercise.

RTI in this context has been used extensively to obtain: certified copies of Jamabandi entries from specific decades where the original has been lost or damaged; confirmation of whether a specific Dag was recorded in the name of a specific person in a given year; and copies of old settlement records. Because some of these records pre-date digital archives, they exist only in physical registers at Circle Offices and sometimes in DC record rooms.

Sample RTI Questions for Land Records

• Please provide a certified copy of the current Jamabandi entry for Dag number X in Mouza X, Revenue Circle X, District X.
• Please provide certified copies of all Namaantaran (mutation) entries recorded for Dag number X in Mouza X, Circle X, District X, from the year X to date.
• Please confirm whether Dag number X in Mouza X is currently recorded as Khas (government) land or as private Patta land in the Jamabandi register. If recorded as Khas land, please provide the basis of such classification.
• Please provide a certified copy of the Jamabandi entry for Dag number X in Mouza X as it stood in the year X (specify decade/year relevant to NRC purposes).
• Please provide the details of any settlement or lease granted over Char X in river, District X, including the date of settlement, names of beneficiaries, and the type of Patta issued.

APDCL: Electricity in Assam

Who APDCL Is

APDCL — the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited — is the single statewide electricity distribution company in Assam. It was carved out of ASEB (Assam State Electricity Board) as part of the broader unbundling of the state power sector. APDCL is a state government company under the Government of Assam and is therefore clearly a public authority under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005. Second appeals against APDCL go to the Assam Information Commission (AIC).

The state electricity regulator, the Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC), is a statutory body created by the Electricity Act, 2003. AERC's decisions — tariff orders, licensing decisions, regulatory orders — are also accessible via RTI, and second appeals against AERC go to the AIC.

What RTI Can Reveal About Your Electricity Connection

Billing disputes are among the most common reasons citizens file RTI applications against electricity companies. In Assam, as elsewhere, a persistent problem is estimated billing: the meter reader does not visit, reads are averaged or estimated, and the consumer is billed for units they may not have consumed — or, conversely, has accumulated a large arrear that the company then demands as a lump sum.

RTI questions that address billing disputes:

• Please provide copies of all monthly meter reading records (date of reading, actual or estimated status, units recorded) for consumer number X from month/year to month/year.
• Please confirm whether any billing cycle for consumer number X during period was based on an estimated reading rather than an actual meter reading. If so, please provide the basis of estimation.
• Please provide a copy of the disconnection notice issued to consumer number X on or around date, along with the legal provision under which disconnection was authorised.
• Please provide the current status of new electricity connection application number X submitted on date for premises at address, and the expected date of energisation.
• Please provide the complaint registration details and resolution status for fault complaint number X lodged on date regarding transformer failure in village/locality.
• Please provide the current status of rural electrification works under the DDUGJY / SAUBHAGYA scheme for village X in district, including: date of target connection, whether households have been surveyed, and the number of connections released to date.

AERC Regulatory Orders

If your dispute is about the tariff category APDCL has assigned your connection (for example, if APDCL is billing you at a commercial rate but you believe your premises qualifies as domestic), you may need to refer to AERC tariff orders. RTI to AERC can obtain certified copies of the relevant tariff order and the category definitions — useful evidence if you are challenging the categorisation of your supply.

Urban Bodies: Guwahati and Beyond

GMDA (Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority) oversees planning and development in the Guwahati metropolitan area. It is a state statutory body. Second appeals go to the AIC. RTI use cases: building plan approval status for a specific application; whether a particular plot is within an approved layout or in a disputed zone; development works contracts and expenditure.

GMC (Guwahati Municipal Corporation) handles civic administration in Guwahati — property tax, trade licences, conservancy. Also a state body; second appeals to AIC.

For RTI to either body, the CPIO will typically be a designated officer at the respective headquarters. Useful requests: certified copy of the building plan approval for premises at address; the property tax assessment order for property number X and the basis of valuation; trade licence number X — is it current or has it lapsed?

Central Bodies in Assam: CIC, Not AIC

This is the most common point of confusion for applicants. Several significant institutions operating in Assam are Central Government or Central PSU bodies. Second appeals against these go to the Central Information Commission (CIC) in New Delhi, not the Assam Information Commission.

A note on OIL India and ONGC: These are very actively RTI-queried bodies in Assam. Local communities affected by pipeline infrastructure, drilling operations, and oil spills have used RTI to seek information about environmental clearances, compensation for land use, and safety compliance records. File these RTI applications to the respective CPIO at the relevant field office, using the rtionline.gov.in portal (verify the current official URL before filing).

A note on security forces: Section 24 of the RTI Act exempts certain intelligence and security organisations from most RTI obligations. BSF and CRPF fall within this exemption for operational matters. However, Section 8(2) carves out an exception even for these bodies: information relating to allegations of corruption and human rights violations is not exempt. RTI for specific allegations of misconduct remains possible even for Section 24 bodies.

Filing RTI Applications in Assam

State bodies (APDCL, GMC, GMDA, Revenue Circles, DC Offices, AERC): Use the Assam state RTI portal if available — verify the current official URL before filing. Alternatively, send a physical application with ₹10 fee (Indian Postal Order or demand draft as applicable) to the CPIO of the relevant office. The fee is ₹10 under the RTI (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2005. BPL cardholders are exempt from paying the fee but must submit a copy of their BPL card.

Central bodies (NF Railway, OIL, ONGC, IITs, AIR Force, BSF): Use the Central Government's rtionline.gov.in portal (verify the current official URL before filing) or send physical applications to the CPIO at the relevant central office.

First Appeal: If the CPIO does not respond within 30 days, responds partially, or provides unsatisfactory information, file a First Appeal within 30 days of the date of decision (or expiry of the 30-day period, whichever is applicable) to the First Appellate Authority (FAA) — typically the officer senior to the CPIO in the same office.

Second Appeal: If the First Appeal is also unsatisfactory, file a Second Appeal to the Assam Information Commission (AIC) for state bodies, or to the Central Information Commission (CIC) for central bodies.

Assam's land records, its electricity infrastructure, and the intersection of both with citizens' most urgent daily needs make RTI one of the most practically valuable tools available to residents of the state. Knowing which records to ask for, which office holds them, and which Commission to approach keeps your application on track from the first step.