Information Commissioner Ahmed Ahid Rasheed has rejected allegations that the Right to Information Act is being widely abused.

Attorney General Ahmed Usham said at a press conference at the President’s Office on Wednesday that some individuals were misusing the law by filing excessive requests for information.

According to Usham, responding to large volumes of RTI requests places a significant burden on government institutions and consumes considerable administrative time.

“We are seeing a lot of abuse of the RTI Act lately,” Usham said.

Responding in a social media post, Ahid said there was no evidence to support claims of systemic abuse of the law.

He said that while some requests may involve difficult or sensitive questions, such cases were not common.

Instead, Ahid argued that the more frequent issue was the failure of state institutions to respond to information requests altogether.

“Government agencies more commonly remain silent without responding to requests for information,” he said.

Ahid also said many state institutions continue to fall short of their obligations under the RTI Act to proactively disclose information.