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Informist, Friday, May 23, 2025

 

By Priyasmita Dutta and Sagar Sen

 

NEW DELHI – The government is planning to bring a new Indian Stamps Bill in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament to deregulate and decriminalise provisions of the 126-year-old Indian Stamps Act, 1899, a senior finance ministry official said Friday.

 

"The bill has been sent to the Cabinet and we expect it to be cleared soon," the official told Informist. "Taking it to Parliament will depend on when Cabinet clears the note but we are hoping to table it in the Monsoon session," the official said. Once enacted, the Act will replace the 1899 Act.

 

The Department of Revenue had invited comments on the draft Indian Stamp Bill last year, aiming to align the legislation with modern stamp duty regime. The existing law provides framework to levy stamp duty on transactions like purchase or sale of movable and immovable properties. Though the stamp duties are levied by the central government, they are collected and appropriated by states.

 

According to the official cited above, the primary intension behind the bill is to decriminalise few provisions under the existing Act which create huge legislative burden for both the government and the taxpayer. "Many small discrepancies were attached to criminal offences in the 1899 Act. Those are redundant and create huge legislative burden," the official said.

 

The bill proposes to decriminalise the law and levy penalties on offences and discrepancies, the official said. The government intends to increase the maximum penalty under the new law to INR 25,000 from INR 5,000 presently. In case of repeated offences, state governments can impose penalty of INR 1,000 per day, the official said.

 

The bill also includes provisions for digital e-stamping, a practise that is already being undertaken by some states. According to the official, some states and Union Territories like Delhi have made provisions for digital stamping in their respective stamp act but there is lack of a uniform legislation across the country. "Bringing a clause for e-stamping in the Act will enable greater synergy among all states," the official said.

 

The Indian Stamp Act, 1899, has been amended from time to time but number of provisions have become inoperative and, hence, there is a need to re-orient the Act, the government had said at the time of inviting comments on the draft bill.  End

 

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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