City to use e-stamp papers from Aug 23

New system will let applicants generate the challan online on their own

LAHORE: The City District Government Lahore (CDGL) is set to introduce electronic-stamp papers for property transactions from August 23.

A training workshop was held on Tuesday to brief real estate agents and other stakeholders in the use of the e-stamp papers. It was arranged by the district administration in collaboration with the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB)

Speaking on the occasion, PBIT e-Governance Director General Sajid Latif said e-stamp papers would be available at 65 branches of the Bank of Punjab (BoP). He said the provincial government had already introduced e-stamp papers in 10 districts of the province. It would be introduced in the remaining districts in phases, he added. He said the new system would promote transparency and facilitate the public because of ease of use.

Latif said the introduction of e-stamp papers would remove the need to visit a government office for generation of Challan 32-A (containing information about payment). The new system would let applicants generate the challan online on their own, he said.

Latif said the e-stamp papers could be verified online or through an SMS sent to a number provided for the purpose.

Another PITB expert said that the new system would enable various stakeholders to confirm authenticity of property documents through the online portal. He said the online system for verification of e-stamp papers had already been put in place.

The expert said that high-value stamp papers were usually meant to be submitted with offices of sub-registrars, cooperative housing societies, housing authorities, approved housing schemes and courts (in case of judicial stamp papers). Therefore, he said, designated offices of these facilities would be given access to the web-based verification system alongside the SMS-based facility.

ADC (General) Asfand Yar Baloch and Joint Director Ali Mazhar were also present on the occasion.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, a realtor, Yasir Qureshi, welcomed the e-stamp paper initiative. He said hundreds of cases of forged property documents pending hearings in courts could have been prevented if a system for verification of stamp paper had been put in place earlier.

He said he hoped the new system would check fraudulent transactions.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2016.