LAHORE: The Punjab government has significantly raised court fees and stamp duties throughout the province, under the Punjab Finance Act 2024, the fees for various court-related activities have dramatically increased by 500% to 1000%.
As per media report, the fees for court tickets, including those for civil and criminal petitions, have increased from Rs2 to Rs500; transferring cases has risen from Rs5 to Rs500; requesting court records has surged from Rs2 to Rs500; 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, and 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. Clients now face a charge of Rs1000 per ticket, which significantly affects 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 Rs15, now reaching a new rate of Rs500.
Stamp papers for affidavits have also risen from Rs100 to Rs300. Stamp papers for sale agreements, previously ranging 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.
Furthermore, 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 increased 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.
