Mumbai: Stamp paper vendors protest over recent circulars

On Thursday talks between Mudrank Vikreta Sangh Mumbai an association of private stamp paper vendors with the senior revenue officials yielded no results compelling protesting stamp vendors to continue their agitationAshok Kadam the union president from Dadar who has been a licensed stamp vendor for thirty years said ldquoOur talks with Deputy Revenue Secretary Satyanarayan Bajaj at Mantralaya on Thursday were inconclusive as he has asked for more time to reply We have no option but to continue our protestrdquoIssue of contentionThe union was objecting to circulars issued by the additional controller of stamps the supervisory authority on stamp paper vendors before his transferAlso read Mumbai Crook pushes woman into loan trap then dupes herTwo of the main concerns are a circular dated February 21 2023 which mandates that from April 1 stamp paper cannot be bought by a third party and that individuals who need stamp paper must be physically present with valid identification in front of stamp vendorsThe second issue according to the union is that a person residing anywhere outside Mumbai or in any other district in Maharashtra is not allowed to buy stamp paper from a Mumbai stamp vendorMudrank Vikreta Sangh members claim that the stamp officials are not stringent when it comes to adhering to their own rules and circulars on vendors operating from out of MumbaildquoWe are getting stepmotherly treatment from the stamp department We adhere to the rules and regulations but our pleas go unheard If the department circular has to be adhered to it should be implemented across the state and not only in Mumbai When surprise raids and records of our register are checked by stamp officials they restrict their check to only Mumbai city and suburbs and not the outskirtsrdquo said KadamAccording to Kadam on Saturday the state association of stamp vendors have a meeting in Dhule where all the stamp vendors from the state will be present and discuss this issue They will decide their next step at the meetingJurisdiction circular cancelledA highly placed source in the state government informed midday that the issues raised by the union the jurisdiction one has been resolved with the Inspector General of Registration and Controller of Stamps cancelling the said circular issued by the additional controller of stampsShravan Hardikar inspector general of registration IGR and controller of stamps Maharashtra said ldquoWe checked the Bombay Stamp Supply and Sales Rules 1934 and checked for Government Resolutions if any but did not come across any provisions that put an embargo on a stamp vendor from Mumbai selling stamp paper to people who reside outside city limits or anywhere in Maharashtra I have used my discretionary power and have cancelled the circular issued by the additional controller of stamps This means stamp papers can be bought by anyone from any licensed stamp vendor in the staterdquoFebruary 21 circular statusAsked about the status of the February 21 circular the IGR said ldquoThe circular has only reiterated provisions laid down in the Bombay Stamp Supply and Sales Rules and was issued within the ambit of the power of the additional controller of stamps The demand from the protesting union is to change the rule which is not in my power The appropriate authority in the state government has been informed and is in dialogue with the protesting vendorsrdquoWhy nowA senior stamp official who did not wish to be identified said ldquoThe said rules where a person has to physically be present to buy the stamp papers is clearly stated in rules 13 and 15 1 of the Bombay Stamp Supply and Sales Rules Also there is an exception where corporate bank or credit cooperatives can appoint a nominated person who will be authorised to collect stamp paper from vendors like they always didrdquoAsked whether an industrialist or celebrity will have to be physically present before the stamp vendor to buy stamp paper the officer replied in the negative stating ldquoThe groundlevel scenario remains unchanged The circular only reiterates rules that have been in existence since 1934 and amended at regular intervals The last amendment to the rules was in 2019 and these provisions remain unchangedrdquo Reason for issuing circularWhile discussing with the union and government officials about the ongoing protest officials who did not wish to be named claimed that the current tussle between stamp paper vendors and advocates might be a reason for the circular being issued The additional controller of stamps might have received representation from practising advocates and even othersThe second reason sources say might be the confusion over the actual value of stamp paper that the vendor sell per person per day Until now they were selling stamp paper worth R30000 which was not as per the stamp rules which restrict the sale to R10000 This means a loss of revenue for vendors The vendor gets 3 per cent per denomination of stamp paper sold which has upset licensed vendorsWay outHardikar confirmed that nothing has changed for the citizens who can always opt for the alternative method of stamping that is getting their document franked and can still execute all documents as per the lawAsked why government departments insist that affidavits be on stamp papers instead of franking Hardikar clarified ldquoWe must understand that there is no short supply of stamp paper only a handful of vendors are protesting but stamp paper is available with nonprotesting vendors and at courts Even the protesting vendors are protesting over a nonissuerdquoSatish Deshmukh who had issued the circular when he occupied the post of additional controller of stamps has been transferred and the post is vacant though temporary charge has been given to another officerIn figuresAccording to Hardikar The annual revenue generated by stamp duty and registration charges in Maharashtra is approximately Rs 40000 crore of which nearly 98 per cent of the revenue is generated through epayment Around Rs 3000 to 4000 crores is collected through franking court fee stamps etc The revenue through the sale of physical stamp paper is approximately R1000 crore in the entire stateThe state government has waived off stamp paper usage for making affidavits for governmentrelated matters and has also made necessary amendments Stamp paper worth R500 is now used only for private mattersAnd on the number of stamp vendors in the state of Maharashtra the IGR said ldquoMumbai has only 11 licensed stamp vendors who are protesting at presentrdquoKadam however said ldquoThere are around 28 licensed stamp vendors including vendors selling in courts bar association etc in Mumbai city and suburbs Though other stamp vendors are not protesting with us they support usrdquo