Punjab Increases Court Fees and Stamp Duties by Up to 1000%

The Punjab government has drastically raised court fees and stamp duties by 500% to 1000% across the province. Under the Punjab Finance Act, 2024, the fee for court tickets for civil and criminal petitions has jumped from Rs. 2 to Rs. 500.

The fee for transferring cases has increased from Rs. 5 to Rs. 500, and the cost of requesting court records has also surged from Rs. 2 to Rs. 500. The cost of filing a memorandum of appeal, claim, or supervision has jumped from Rs. 15 to Rs. 500. Civil and criminal lawyers, who used to pay Rs. 2 per ticket, now have to pay Rs. 100. Tickets that once cost between Rs. 5 and Rs. 15 have been raised to Rs. 500.

For cases where the claimant’s amount is undetermined, ticket prices have surged from Rs. 2 to Rs. 500. Clients will now face a charge of Rs.1,000 for a ticket, which greatly affects their ability to make claims under the relevant consumer laws.

For requests related to rent determination or eviction, the cost of tickets has risen from Rs. 2 to Rs. 15 to a new rate of Rs. 500. Furthermore, stamp papers for affidavits have increased from Rs. 100 to Rs. 300.

Previously, stamp papers for sale agreements ranged from Rs. 1,200 to Rs. 3,000 but are now set at a fixed rate of Rs. 3,000. Stamp papers for other declarations have increased to Rs. 500, compared to the former range of Rs. 100 to Rs. 200. For divorce papers, the stamp duty has risen to Rs. 1,000 from the previous Rs. 100.

The price for certified copies of court documents has skyrocketed from Rs. 2 to Rs. 100 per page.

Fees for claims under Rs. 50 have surged from Rs. 2 to Rs. 100, while those over Rs. 50 have jumped from Rs. 5 to Rs. 500. The cost of returning original documents has increased from Rs. 2 to Rs. 100, and obtaining certified copies of court records now costs Rs. 100 per page, up from Rs. 2.

The Rawalpindi Bar Association, led by former President Malik Jawad Khalid, has filed a resolution condemning the Punjab Finance Act of 2024. The lawyer community has called on the Punjab government to immediately reverse this decision, warning that they will protest if their demands are not addressed.