Assam Right to Public Service (ARTPS) Portal — Sewa Setu

What is the Assam Right to Public Service portal?

The Assam Right to Public Service (ARTPS) portal is the Government of Assam's online channel for applying to notified public services with a guaranteed time limit attached to each one. It is now delivered through Sewa Setu at sewasetu.assam.gov.in; the older rtps.assam.gov.in address redirects there, and everything: application, tracking, grievance and appeal, sits on the single Sewa Setu platform.

The legal foundation is the Assam Right to Public Service Act, 2012, enacted to provide for the delivery of notified public services to the people of Assam within a stipulated time limit. Following amendments in 2019 and 2024, the statute is now the Assam Right to Public Services (Amendment) Act, 2024. The Administrative Reforms & Training Department owns the Act and the portal, and the portal was built under the World Bank-financed Assam Citizen Centric Service Delivery Project.

The distinction that matters to a citizen is simple. An ordinary government website lets you submit a form and hope. ARTPS attaches three things to that submission: a named officer responsible for delivering it, a deadline in days, and a penalty if the deadline is missed. That combination is what turns a request into a right.

What services can you get through Sewa Setu?

Sewa Setu currently lists 616 citizen services, 280 business services, 13 utility services and 5 schemes. Separately, the Administrative Reforms & Training Department publishes a list of 475 services notified under the ARTPS Act, each mapped to a designated public servant, an appellate authority and a time limit.

The departments covered span the ones a citizen deals with most: Revenue, Transport, Health, Education, Labour, Industries & Commerce, Environment & Pollution Control, Fire & Emergency Services, Agriculture, Mining, Medical Education and the Guwahati Municipal Corporation.

Time limits vary sharply by the complexity of the service:

• Instant or one day; Entrepreneurs Memorandum Part I, tree transit permits.
• 7 to 15 days, most certificates, licences and registrations. Fire prevention and fire safety recommendations, for instance, carry a 7-day limit, and the final NOC after receipt of the compliance report carries 14 days.
• 30 to 90 days; complex approvals such as pollution consent and factory registration.
• Up to 365 days; major mining leases.

The full department-wise list of 475 services with categories and timelines is downloadable as a PDF from the Administrative Reforms & Training Department site.

Who is eligible to use ARTPS and who is not?

Eligible: any citizen of Assam who needs a notified public service. There is no income test, no age bar and no caste or category restriction on the right to time-bound delivery — the entitlement runs with the service, not with the applicant's circumstances. Businesses and entrepreneurs are equally covered, since 280 of the listed services are business services.

Who cannot apply / is not eligible:

• Services that have not been notified under the ARTPS Act cannot be pursued through this route. If your service is not on the notified list of 475, no time limit and no penalty attach to it, and the appeal machinery does not apply. Check the list before assuming you have a remedy.
• Applicants who submit an incomplete application are not entitled to run the clock. The acknowledgement records the time limit only where all essential documents are attached, so a missing document does not merely delay you, it means the deadline never started.
• ARTPS is not a financial benefit. Anyone looking for a cash payout is not eligible for anything here, because the platform pays no money to citizens. It is the wrong door for that.
• Matters already before a court or a tribunal are not resolved through the ARTPS appeal route.

What documents do you need?

There is no single document list, because each of the notified services carries its own. The Sewa Setu FAQ is explicit that the essential documents for each service are specified on the public notice boards of the office concerned and on the website. Before you apply, open the service page and read its document list.

Three things are needed for every application:

• A mobile number, for the OTP at registration and every subsequent notification.
• Aadhaar, for identity across most citizen services.
• The service-specific supporting documents, complete at the point of submission.

After you apply, the acknowledgement receipt becomes the most important document you hold. It carries the acknowledgement number, the name of the service, the date of submission, the time limit and the details of the designated public servant, and every later step, from tracking to appeal, runs off it.

How to apply for a service on the ARTPS Sewa Setu portal

1. Open sewasetu.assam.gov.in and register. Click Register or Login at the top right of the homepage. Enter your mobile number, verify the OTP, fill in your personal details, create your login credentials and submit the form. Registration is free.
2. Find your service. Browse the citizen, business or utility service categories, or search by name. Open the service page and read the eligibility, the fee, the document list and, critically, the stated time limit in days.
3. Fill the application and upload documents. Complete every field and attach all the essential documents. Incomplete applications are the main reason the guaranteed time limit does not apply, so check the list twice before submitting.
4. Submit and save the acknowledgement. On submission you receive an acknowledgement carrying the acknowledgement number, the service name, the date of submission, the time limit and the designated public servant. Save or photograph it.
5. Track the application. Enter the acknowledgement number and the date of submission in the tracking section of the portal to see the current stage.
6. Collect the output. The certificate, licence or registration is issued digitally or at the office named in the acknowledgement, depending on the service.

If you do not want to apply online, go to any Public Facilitation Centre (PFC) or Common Service Centre (CSC). Staff there submit the application on the same platform, and you receive the same acknowledgement, the same time limit and the same appeal rights. The portal maintains separate PFC and CSC login roles precisely so that citizens without internet access are not excluded.

What if the service is not delivered on time?

This is where ARTPS differs from every ordinary government portal, and the sequence is worth knowing precisely:

1. File a first appeal within 30 days. If the service is not delivered within the stipulated time or the application is rejected, appeal to the Appellate Authority named for that service. The 30 days run from the expiry of the time limit or from the rejection.
2. The Appellate Authority must decide within 30 days, extendable by a further 15 days.
3. File a second appeal with the RTPS Commission if you remain aggrieved by the Appellate Authority's decision.
4. A penalty of up to Rs 25,000 can be imposed by the RTPS Commission on the defaulting officer, and the officer has to pay it at the treasury within one month.

Appeals are filed and tracked through the appeals section of Sewa Setu, which is separate from the services and grievances tracking sections. Keep your acknowledgement number, an appeal without it goes nowhere.

Why do Sewa Setu applications get rejected or stall?

• Incomplete documents. The commonest cause, and the most damaging, because the time limit only attaches where all essential documents are attached. Read the service's document list from the notice board or website before submitting.
• Applying for the wrong service. Many Assam services have near-identical names across departments. Match the department as well as the service name.
• Details that do not match the supporting documents. Name spellings, father's name and address that differ between the form and the Aadhaar or land record.
• Mobile number wrong or unreachable, so the acknowledgement and all subsequent notifications never arrive.
• Applying for a non-notified service and then expecting the appeal remedy, which does not exist for it.
• Letting the 30-day appeal window lapse. The right is time-barred; note the deadline on the acknowledgement the day you receive it.

Where do you get help with ARTPS?

• Toll-free helpline: 1800-345-3574, published on the Sewa Setu portal.
• Any PFC or CSC, for help filing, tracking or appealing.
• The grievance section on sewasetu.assam.gov.in, which is tracked separately from services and appeals.
• The Administrative Reforms & Training Department, at art.assam.gov.in, which owns the ARTPS Act and publishes the list of 475 notified services with designated public servants and appellate authorities.
• The RTPS Commission, for second appeals and for penalty proceedings against a defaulting officer.

One practical note: Sewa Setu is free to register and free to use. Service fees, where a service carries one, are the statutory fees payable to the department and are shown on the service page before you submit. No agent or facilitator has any special access to the platform.