Stamp paper circular issue: ‘Allow helping hand for elderly, differently abled’

While a few advocates have welcomed the circular that has asked people in need of stamp papers to be physically present at the vendorsrsquo others have suggested that the authorities allow a nominee for the elderly pregnant women and differently abled people for the purposeThe vendors went on an indefinite strike on April 1 protesting against the circularAdvocate Floyd Gracias a Supreme Court counsel said ldquoThe order makes it cumbersome and sometimes impossible for the aged or physically disabled individuals to personally go and purchase nonjudicial stamp papers Itrsquos problematic for others too including those who go to work dailyrdquo The authorities should make a provision allowing lawyers or an authorised person to obtain the stamp paper for those in need he addedAdvocate Shreeprasad Parab a constitution expert said ldquoThe state government should make an amendment to the rule or at least allow elderly people industrialists and celebrities to nominate a person to purchase the stamp paper on their behalf like itrsquos allowed for corporations and cooperativesrdquoldquoThe person in need including a senior citizen a pregnant woman cannot be expected to go to the vendor just to purchase a stamp paperrdquo said Advocate Vinod Sampat president Registration Fee and Stamp Duty Payers AssociationsHe pointed out that the law does not have ldquoa provision that says a person who wants to execute a document has to go to the stamp vendor personally Hence the circular should be revoked immediatelyrdquoThe reason for circularA senior official from the stamps and registrations department requesting anonymity said ldquoThe circular was issued after the department received complaints about discrepancies in the maintenance of records of stamp papers by the vendorsrdquoAlso read Mumbai Stamp paper vendors protest over recent circularsThe other reason sources said could be the confusion over the actual sale value of stamp papers Until now a vendor sold stamps worth Rs 30000 against the rule that limits the sale proceeds to Rs 10000 A vendor gets 3 per cent of the value of a sold stamp paper The change would mean a loss for the vendorsNo effect on saleAnother official said ldquoOf the 28 stamp vendors in Mumbai and the suburbs only 11 private licensed vendors are protesting The remaining 17 vendors including cooperatives and the bar association are notrdquoOn a question about any loss to the treasury the official said ldquoThe protest has been going only for a week Moreover the physical sale of stamp papers accounts for merely 2 per cent to 3 per cent of the total sale as most high value stamp duty payments happen online Also there is an alternativemdashgetting the document frankedrdquoAccording to official figures nearly 98 per cent of the statersquos approximate annual revenue of R40000 crore is generated through epayment