Recently, stamp taxes and court fees have been significantly increased across the province by the Punjabi administration.
This significant increase comes under the Punjab Finance Act of 2024, with court tickets now costing Rs. 500.
Fees for court tickets for both civil and criminal cases went from Rs. 2 to Rs. 500, while the cost of transferring cases went from Rs. 5 to Rs. 500.
Civil and criminal attorneys who previously paid Rs. 2 per ticket now have to pay Rs. 100. Requests for court documents increased from Rs. 2 to Rs. 500.
Appeals, claims, or surveillance memoranda increased from Rs. 15 to Rs. 500.
The price has jumped to Rs 500 from the previous range of Rs 5 to Rs 15.
Customers now have to pay Rs 1,000 for each ticket, which significantly limits their capacity to file lawsuits under consumer protection legislation. Such an abrupt change in prices is visible in many different stamp papers for various purposes.
The cost of tickets for requests pertaining to rent determination or eviction has increased from Rs 2 to Rs 15, with a new charge of Rs 500. Affidavit stamp papers now cost Rs 300 instead of Rs 100. The price of stamp sheets for sale agreements has been fixed at Rs3000, when previously they ranged from Rs1200 to Rs3000.
The stamp duty on divorce papers has raised from Rs100 to Rs1000, and the stamp papers for other declarations are now worth Rs500 instead of the prior range of Rs100 to Rs200.
With severe inflation already disrupting the lives of common citizens, such an increment in the legal procedures further creates hurdles for completing a legal procedural framework. Honourable Supreme Court has repeatedly asserted that it is the job of the state to provide justice and ease the process for the people. Lawyers have denounced the Punjab Finance Act of 2024 and are urging the government to reverse this decision promptly.