How to File RTI with ONGC for Oil & Gas Block Allocation, PSC Terms and Royalty Payments

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is India's largest oil and gas exploration and production company and a Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The Government of India holds approximately 58–60% equity in ONGC through the President of India, making it firmly a public authority under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005. ONGC is therefore fully subject to RTI obligations.

RTI is a powerful accountability tool in the petroleum sector: for citizens living near ONGC drilling sites or pipelines seeking environmental compliance data, for researchers tracking the terms of hydrocarbon block allocations under NELP or OALP rounds, for state government accountability journalists verifying royalty payments, and for civil society organisations monitoring CSR fund utilisation in oil-producing districts.

ONGC's Structure and Which Office to File With

ONGC operates through its Corporate Office in New Delhi and a network of Asset offices, Basin offices, and regional exploration offices across India. The right office to address depends on your query:

For block allocation, PSC/RSC terms, and bid evaluation, a parallel RTI with the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) — under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas — will often yield more detailed policy-level data, since DGH is the technical regulator that evaluates bids and monitors contract compliance.

What You Can Obtain Through RTI — And What May Be Exempt

RTI with ONGC can yield a range of information of significant public interest, but applicants should be aware of relevant exemption provisions:

Typically available:

• Block allocation orders and round-wise award notifications (publicly available but not always easily searchable)
• Participating interest (PI) percentages of consortium members
• Status of committed work programmes — whether drilling obligations have been met
• Royalty paid to state governments — field-wise and year-wise
• Environmental Clearance conditions and compliance reports submitted to MoEFCC
• Show Cause Notices issued by environmental regulators
• Land acquisition notifications, compensation rates, and payment status
• CSR expenditure data — project-wise, district-wise

May be claimed as exempt under Section 8(1)(d) (commercial confidence / trade secrets):

• Detailed financial terms of PSCs — specific cost recovery caps, profit petroleum split percentages, and stabilisation clauses — may be withheld if ONGC argues these are commercial secrets of its joint venture partners
• Proprietary seismic data and geological interpretations

Key safeguard: If ONGC invokes a Section 8 exemption, it must identify the specific information withheld and the specific sub-section being invoked. Under Section 10 of the RTI Act, the non-exempt portions of any document must still be provided. Blanket refusal citing "commercial confidence" for an entire contract is not permissible.

Block Allocation: NELP, OALP, and the Role of DGH

India's hydrocarbon exploration licensing has gone through two main policy regimes:

NELP (New Exploration Licensing Policy, 1999–2016): Competitive bidding rounds (NELP-I through NELP-X) under which blocks were awarded on the basis of Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs). Under PSCs, the contractor recovers exploration and production costs from a portion of production ("cost oil") before sharing remaining "profit oil" with the Government in agreed proportions.

OALP (Open Acreage Licensing Policy, from 2017) under HELP: Replaced NELP with an open-door, always-open mechanism. Contracts are Revenue Sharing Contracts (RSCs) — the Government's share is a fixed percentage of gross revenue, with no cost recovery stage. This was intended to reduce disputes over cost inflation that plagued PSC-era contracts.

ONGC holds a large portfolio of blocks under both regimes — as operator, as a consortium member, and through its subsidiary ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) for overseas blocks. For domestic NELP/OALP blocks, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) is the primary regulatory and data repository — a parallel RTI to DGH is often more productive for block-level data than an RTI to ONGC alone.

Royalty, Environmental Clearance, and CSR: Three Critical Accountability Areas

Royalty payments to states: Under the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act, 1948, royalty is paid to the state government in which production occurs, at rates notified by the Central Government. ONGC, as licensee or operator, is responsible for this remittance. States like Assam, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and Tripura receive significant annual royalties from ONGC operations. RTI can verify whether royalty is being paid on time, at the correct rates, and whether any arrears exist.

Environmental Clearance compliance: ONGC's exploration and production projects require Environmental Clearances from MoEFCC. EC conditions typically cover gas flaring limits, produced water disposal, soil and groundwater monitoring, oil spill response plans, and restoration of disturbed land. ONGC is required to submit half-yearly compliance reports, which are public documents obtainable through RTI. Citizens living near ONGC installations — particularly in ecologically sensitive areas like the Sundarbans (WOB asset), Assam's Brahmaputra floodplains, or coastal Gujarat — can use RTI to track compliance or expose violations.

CSR fund utilisation: ONGC is among the largest CSR spenders in India by absolute amount, given its large profits. Under Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, ONGC must spend 2% of its average net profits on CSR activities, prioritising areas around its operations. Despite the scale, CSR implementation at the district and village level is often opaque. RTI can reveal project-wise allocations, implementing agencies, utilisation certificates, and unspent amounts transferred to the Unspent CSR Account.

Where to File

File on rtionline.gov.in:

1. Select Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
2. Choose Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) for all ONGC-specific queries
3. For block allocation policy data and bid evaluation records, also consider filing separately under Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), listed under the same ministry
4. Draft your application specifying the block name and round, field name, state, or project name as relevant
5. Pay ₹10 online. BPL cardholders are exempt
6. Submit and note your registration number

For environmental clearance violations: file a parallel RTI with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) — Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) records, EC grant orders, compliance monitoring records, and Show Cause Notices are held by MoEFCC, not only by ONGC.

For gas pipeline safety and tariff matters: file RTI with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), which is the statutory downstream regulator.

Appeals

First Appeal (Section 19(1)): File with the First Appellate Authority (FAA) at ONGC Corporate Office within 30 days of the date of decision or expiry of the 30-day response period, whichever is applicable.

Second Appeal (Section 19(3)): File with the Central Information Commission (CIC) in New Delhi within 90 days. ONGC is a Central Government public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas — it is a public authority under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, and the second appeal body is always the CIC, not any State Information Commission. The CIC can impose a penalty of ₹250 per day (up to ₹25,000) on a CPIO who withholds information without reasonable cause, and can direct disclosure.