Fees including court tickets for civil and criminal applications increased from Rs.2 to Rs.500, transfer of cases increased to Rs.500 from Rs. 5 to Rs 500.
LAHORE: The Punjab government has significantly increased court fees and stamp duty under the Punjab Finance Act 2024 across the province.
The government has dramatically increased fees for various court-related activities from 500% to 1000%.
Fees including court tickets for civil and criminal applications increased from Rs.2 to Rs.500, transfer of cases increased to Rs.500 from Rs. 5 to Rs 500. Request for court records increased from Rs 2 to Rs 500, appeal, claim or surveillance memorandum increased from Rs 15 to Rs 500, civil and criminal lawyers who previously paid Rs 2 per ticket now have to pay Rs 100.
The cost, which was once between Rs 5 and Rs 15, has been increased to Rs 500. Clients now face a charge of Rs 1,000 per ticket, which greatly affects their ability to make claims under consumer laws.
Similarly, the price of tickets for rent fixation or eviction petitions has been increased from Rs 2.15 to Rs 500. Stamp papers for affidavits have also been increased from Rs 100 to Rs 300. Stamp papers for sale agreements, which were earlier Rs 1,200 to Rs 3,000, are now at Rs 3,000.
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Stamp papers for other declarations have increased to Rs. 500 against the earlier limit of Rs 100 to Rs 200, and the stamp duty for divorce papers has increased to Rs 1,000 from the previous Rs 100.
Moreover, the cost of certified copies of court documents has skyrocketed from Rs 2 to Rs 100 per page. The fee for claims below Rs 50 has increased from Rs 2 to Rs 100, while the fee for claims above Rs 50 has increased from Rs 5 to Rs 500.
The cost of returning original documents has increased from Rs 2 to Rs 100, and the cost of obtaining certified copies of court records has now increased from Rs 2 to Rs 100 per page.
