The Punjab government has significantly increased court fees and stamp duties across the province.
Under the Punjab Finance Act 2024, the fees for various court-related activities have seen a dramatic rise of 500% to 1000%.
The fees for court tickets for civil and criminal petitions have increased from Rs2 to Rs500, and transferring cases has risen from Rs5 to Rs500. Requesting court records has surged from Rs2 to Rs500, and filing a memorandum of appeal, claim, or supervision has jumped from Rs15 to Rs500. Civil and criminal lawyers, who previously paid Rs2 per ticket, now have to pay Rs100. Tickets that once cost between Rs5 and Rs15 have been raised to Rs500.
For cases where the claimant’s amount is undetermined, ticket prices have surged from Rs2 to Rs500, with clients now facing a charge of Rs1000 for a ticket, greatly affecting their ability to make claims under consumer laws.
Similarly, for requests related to rent determination or eviction, the cost of tickets has risen from Rs2 to Rs500. Stamp papers for affidavits have also increased from Rs100 to Rs300.
The stamp papers for sale agreements, which previously ranged from Rs1200 to Rs3000, are now set at a fixed rate of Rs3000.
Stamp papers for other declarations have increased to Rs500, compared to the former range of Rs100 to Rs200, and the stamp duty for divorce papers has risen to Rs1000 from the previous Rs100.
Moreover, the price for certified copies of court documents has skyrocketed from Rs2 to Rs100 per page.
Fees for claims under Rs50 have surged from Rs2 to Rs100, while those over Rs50 have jumped from Rs5 to Rs500.
The cost of returning original documents has increased from Rs2 to Rs100, and obtaining certified copies of court records now costs Rs100 per page, up from Rs2.