Property and legal contracts expensive, stamp paper fees increased by thousands of rupees

Lahore: New financial difficulties have arisen for citizens buying and selling property, entering into power of attorney and other legal contracts as the fees for e-stamp paper have been increased on a large scale.
According to sources, the government has revised the stamp duty rates and increased the cost of various contracts by thousands of rupees, which is expected to significantly increase the cost of the property market and legal matters.
The property sector has been affected the most. The price of e-stamp paper for sales agreements will now be 3 thousand rupees, which was 1200 rupees earlier. Similarly, a stamp of Rs 3,000 has been made mandatory for contracts up to Rs 5 lakh.
If the value of the contract is between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, a stamp paper of Rs 6,000 will be required, while in cases worth more than Rs 15 million, it has been increased by another Rs 20,000.
Not only property but also the costs of other general contracts have increased. Now the stamp paper used for any private or business contract will be available for Rs 500, which was earlier Rs 100.
Power of Attorney documents have also become expensive, where the fee has been increased from Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,800.
Citizens will also have to bear an additional burden in everyday matters. The fee for the stamp paper required for utility connections, domicile and educational admissions has increased manifold. The cost of divorce-related documents has also reached Rs 1,000.
To increase transparency, authorities have imposed a new requirement that the person receiving the stamp paper must have a registered mobile SIM. According to experts, this decision will increase government revenues, but it will make it more expensive for ordinary citizens and small business owners to prepare legal documents.