Vendors cashing in on shortage of stamp paper

Vendors cashing in on shortage of stamp paper
Jeeva, TNN, Oct 22, 2010, 02.59am IST




CHENNAI: Thangaraj, a resident of Thirumangalam, has not been able to prepare the rental agreement for his tenant for over three weeks now, for want of a stamp paper. Although he approached several stamp vendors in the city, he was unable to procure the commodity.

Shortage of stamp papers, particularly in the denomination of Rs 10, Rs 20 and Rs 50, has been affecting the execution of agreements and filing of affidavits in various tribunals in the city now. Consequently, many stamp vendors sell papers for 10% to 20% more than the face value.

"The shortage has been acute since the beginning of this month. Only on Monday, we could buy the Rs 100 stamp paper, but still we are unable to buy papers of lower denominations," said advocate P Venugopal, practising in the Madras high court. Many lawyers said they needed to keep a stock of stamp papers for their business needs, to execute various different kinds of agreements and affidavits in judicial forums like Intellectual Property Appellate Tribunal and to get certified order copies. However, they are struggling to acquire the papers.

Besides, there are complaints that licensed vendors are selling stamp papers and court fee stamps for more than the value printed on them, even if there is no shortage. "If we want to buy ten court fee stamps of Rs 10 each, the vendors charge Rs 120 instead of Rs 100. I have already complained to the authorities. Action should be taken against the violators. The state government should consider selling stamp papers and court fee stamps through banks and post offices so that there won't be any opportunity for such complaints,'' said V Gopalakrishnan, a Right to Information ( RTI) activist and resident of KK Nagar.

Officials at the district treasury office in Broadway said they had to source the stamp paper from Nasik and Hyderabad and there was some delay in receiving the stock. "The papers have just been delivered and we are in the process of distributing them," treasury officials said.

On complaints against licensed stamp vendors for charging a higher rate, Inspector General of Registration, D Sabitha told The Times of India that stamp vendors were getting the papers at a discount and they should not be selling it for more than the face value. "People can complain about such irregularities. Even if there is no evidence to support their complaints, we will still warn the vendors that such violations will lead to their licence being revoked,'' Sabitha said.