Govt reduces court fees for litigants

In response to long-standing grievances, the Punjab government has reduced court fees, making it more affordable for litigants to obtain court orders and other legal documents.

According to a notification issued by the provincial government, the fees structure in Schedule-I and Schedule-II has been revised under Section 35 of the Court Fees Act 1870.

The new structure significantly reduces costs, with fees for obtaining attested civil court orders slashed from Rs100 per page to just Rs10 per page.

Meanwhile, the court fee on court revenue or rent application will be reduced from Rs500 to Rs10, and the court fee on request for transfer of case to court or authority will be Rs100 instead of Rs500. According to the notification, a one-time court fee of Rs500 has been set for a revision application to the Board of Revenue and Commissioners under the Punjab Tenancy Act 1887.

Similarly, the court fees have been reduced from Rs100 to Rs10 on applications in Customs, Excise, Land Revenue, and Civil Court cases with values less than Rs10,000.

The court fee for submission of an affidavit or power of attorney in Civil, Criminal Court, and Revenue Court is fixed at Rs100. The notification further read that the court fee on case transfer requests in the High Court has been fixed at Rs200, while the court fee of Rs10 will be charged on request for subpoena.

Additionally, for powers of attorney filed in the Lahore High Court or the Board of Revenue, the fee has been reduced from Rs500 to Rs200 and for family court and prisoners' cases, the fee has been eliminated.