Punjab govt introduces e-stamping system

Online system aims to eliminate forged stamp papers

RAWALPINDI:

The government has abolished the 74-year-old outdated system of stamp papers, replacing it with an e-stamping system across Punjab.

Stamp papers worth Rs50 have also been abolished. Now, only four different types of online code stamp papers worth Rs100, Rs200, Rs600 and Rs1,200 have been introduced.

Stamp paper sellers have been allowed to sell written stamp papers worth Rs100 for Rs200.

Every stamp paper seller will now submit a fee in the national treasury to get access to the website of the provincial finance ministry to download special stamp papers worth Rs100 and Rs200 according to the amount deposited. This system is expected to eliminate the business of making fake stamp papers in Punjab.

Under this new system, Rs100 stamp papers will be used for water, electricity, gas, telephone, affidavits of connections, and affidavits submitted to courts. Similarly, Rs1,200 denomination stamp papers will be used for property contracts and agreements. Rs600 stamp papers will be used for power of attorney, while Rs200 stamp papers will be used for multiple purposes.

All stamp sellers will be registered online. A prepaid stamp paper having separate special codes will open the complete data of the stamp paper seller, including name, address, data, notary and stamp recipient. Even the applicants will be able to confirm details by checking the code online. All these details will be computerised. Applicants can receive a stamp paper at home after biometric verification.

Stamp Dealers’ Union Leader Malik Waheed Awan told The Express Tribune that the online code system would eliminate forgery, fraud, counterfeit stamps, and backdated fake stamp papers. However, there are certain technical issues, which will put an extra financial burden on vendors of stamp papers, he added. “Every vendor is supposed to have a laptop, a printer, and an internet connection, which will be an additional expense for the vendor,” he pointed out.

The vendor will download the stamp paper online, after writing a text on it and notarizing it, which will increase the cost as the applicants will have to pay Rs400 to Rs500 for a stamp worth Rs100. Moreover, a power breakdown will render this online system paralysed.

Sources in the District Accounts Office, Rawalpindi, said that the new system will help the government save billions of rupees annually which are spent on coloured and expensive papers required for stamp papers and their security. The office responsible for these tasks will also be abolished, they added.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2022.