The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will not be subject to provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, according to the latest version of the National Sports Governance Bill, 2025.
According to the proposed law, only sports bodies that are registered under the Societies Registration Act or are government agencies will be considered public authorities. This means that the BCCI, which is not registered under the Societies Registration Act, will not be subject to the RTI Act.
The BCCI has been resisting being classified as a public authority under the RTI Act for several years. In 2017, the Supreme Court recommended that the BCCI be classified as a public authority under the RTI Act. The Law Commission and the Central Information Commission have also recommended that the BCCI be classified as a public authority under the RTI Act.
However, the BCCI has resisted these recommendations. In 2020, the BCCI filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the classification of the BCCI as a public authority under the RTI Act.
The BCCI’s resistance to being classified as a public authority under the RTI Act has been criticized by several civil society organizations. These organizations argue that the BCCI’s resistance to the RTI Act is a violation of the right to information.
The latest version of the National Sports Governance Bill, 2025, is expected to be introduced in the Parliament in the coming months. If the bill is passed, it will have a significant impact on the BCCI’s status under the RTI Act.
Read more about the BCCI’s resistance to the RTI Act here.
