Council of Ministers Regulation No. 428/2018
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
REGULATION TO DETERMINE THE RATE OF FEES FOR SERVICE ON DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF
INFORMATION
Whereas, the freedom of
the mass media and access to information
Proclamation provides the right of information requesters to obtain information
quickly, inexpensively and effortlessly;
Whereas, the need of
introducing a uniform working procedure where by public bodies implement the
appropriate limit and information access fee cost recovery mechanisms;
Now therefore, This Regulation is issued by the Council of
Ministers pursuant to Article 5 of the Definition of Powers and Duties of the
Executive Organs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Proclamation
No.916/2015 and Article 37 of the Freedom of the Mass Media and Access to
Information Proclamation No. 590/2008.
PART
ONE
GENERAL
1. Short
Title
This Regulation
may be cited as the “Rate of service Fees Payable for Different Categories of
Information Council of Ministers Regulation No.428/ 2018”.
2. Definition
In this Regulation, unless the context
requires otherwise:
1/ “Proclamation”
means the Freedom of the Mass Media and Access to Information Proclamation No.
590/2008;
2/ the definitions provided for under
sub-articles (5) to (8) and sub-article (18) of Article 2 of the Proclamation
shall be applicable;
3/“fee notice”
means a notice form issued by the public relation officer to inform the
information requester the amount of administrative cost required to process the
information request;
3. Scope
of Application
1/ This Regulation
shall apply to all public bodies.
2/ Notwithstanding the provision of sub-article
(1) of this Article, these Regulations shall not apply on public bodies that
are entrusted by law with the duty of processing and selling information.
PART TWO
ASSESSMENT OF FEE
AND MODE OF PAYMENT
4. Fees Notice
If the public relation officer or any assigned employee decides to
provide the information, he shall, within 15 days from the receipt of the
request, notify the requester the amount of fees to be charged.
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5. Assessment
of Fee
1/ The amount of
fees for accessing information shall be calculated based on the schedule
attached with this Regulation.
2/ The amount and the schedule of information
access fees referred in sub-article (1) of this Article may, where necessary,
be revised every two years.
6. Duration
of Payment
1/ The
requester of information shall pay the fees within 90 consecutive days from the
receipt of the notice issued to him in accordance with Article 4 of this Regulation.
2/ If
the requester of the information fails to effect payment pursuant to
sub-article (1) of this Article, the public body may not be obliged to provide
the information, unless the requester comes up with convincing reason for
failing to do so.
3/ Any public body may request the total
payment in advance when the requester is with the record of unsettled bill.
7. Advance
Payment
Where
the fees for accessing the information requested exceed the cost limit and the
public relation officer or any assigned employee decides to provide the
information, the requester shall, in advance, pay one third of the total fee.
8. Exemption of fees
1/ The following information requesters
are exempted from the payment of fees:
a) an individual with annual income of Birr 860( Eight
hundred and sixty birr) or less and furnish evidence from the appropriate
government bodies;
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b) a student engaged
in conducting his first degree graduation thesis;
c) 30 pages of information requested by a
journalist;
d) an individual engaged in scientific research
who is able to furnish evidence from the appropriate public body;
e) an individual requesting personal information;
f) visually impaired persons
g) any government
organ, courts or person requesting information for the purpose of inspection
and investigation.
2/ The Institution of the ombudsman may determine
by directives other persons, who may be exempted from the payment of information
access fee in addition to those referred to under sub-article (1) of this
Article.
9. Waiver
1/ Fees may be waived on the following grounds:
a)
where the information requested enhances the general
awareness of the society regarding government activities;
b)
where the information requested is available based on duty
to publish;
c) where the
information requested is likely to contribute to find out a responsible body,
individual or group that would be accountable for a failure;
d) where the expense
to collect the fees appears to be higher than the administrative cost to be
collected.
2/ The public relation
officer or any assigned employee shall notify to the requester in writing his
decision on a request for waiver within 5 days from the receipt of the request.
10. Collection of Fees
The public relation officer or any
assigned employee shall ensure fulfillment of the following conditions before
causing collection of fees:
1/ the consistency
of calculation rate of the fees and manner of its collection;
2/ the consistency
of the existing payment procedure with this Regulation, if any;
3/ that the collection is executed in accordance with the
finance system of the government.
PART THREE
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
11. Supervisory Power
The
Institution of the Ombudsman is entrusted with the power and responsibility to
supervise the proper implementation of these Regulations and directives issued
there under.
12. Power to Issue Directives
The Institution of
the Ombudsman may issue directives necessary for the proper implementation of
this Regulation.
13. Effective
Date
This Regulation shall enter into
force on the date of their publication in the Federal Negarit Gazetta.
Done
at Addis Ababa, this ______ day of _ 2018
ABIY AHMED (PH.D)
PRIME MINISTER OF THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF
ETHIOPIA
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