PITB says the new process will eliminate black market sale and extra payments. IMAGE: FILE
LAHORE: The Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) launched judicial e-stamp paper in all 36 districts throughout the province on Friday.
Instead of purchasing judicial stamp papers from vendors or the treasury department, people can now buy them from any branch of the Bank of Punjab, said Chairman PITB Dr Umar Saif. He added that through this e-stamp system, authorities have eased the process of acquiring stamp paper. In the past, people had to wait for two or three days due to a cumbersome process.
He said no fake stamp papers could be purchased or submitted, while revenue generated from the document would contribute to the government kitty.
E-stamping Additional Director Sajid Latif told The Express Tribune that non-judicial stamp papers of high value (above Rs1,000) were already being issued through the new system since September 26, 2016.
He said these could be used for the sale, purchase or transfer of property and commercial agreements. They are used as court fee and range from Rs21 to Rs15,000.
He said training sessions on the judicial e-stamp paper concluded on December 22 in all major districts. The additional director advised citizens to visit their nearest Bank of Punjab (BoP) branch to get the non-judicial or judicial e-stamp papers after filling a challan 32-A form on www.es.punjab.gov.pk.
Latif said the paper will be issued from all the branches of the Bank of Punjab for convenience’s sake. Average time to issue e-Stamp paper is 10 to 15 minutes now compared to two to three days. He said the new process made this crucial document far easier to acquire, he said. It also eliminated black market sale and backdating of stamp papers, while cutting out agents, extra payment and fraud.
However, low value non-judicial stamp papers would still be purchased from licenced vendors and according to the previous routine. Latif said such stamp papers are just 5% of those used overall.
E-stamping Joint Director Ali Mazhar said the authorities have uploaded property evaluation charts on their website. He added this would enable citizens to evaluate any property and submit a challan for the required stamp paper.
He said people can also pay Capital Value Tax, registration or comparison fee on the website. “One can calculate DC valuation and can pay a deficiency/penalty fee.” Other than that, Ali said, people can also verify any stamp paper or even reprint the challan form. He said anyone can get stamp papers from branches of BoP to use in all districts of the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 24th, 2016.
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