Taxation is one of the ways of generating government revenue. The government gets its taxes from various sources like roads, water, electricity etc. Similarly, stamp duty is also one of the taxation mechanisms for generating revenue for the government. Stamp duty is also collected while buying or selling property. The stamp on the property papers acts as proof that the taxes to the government have been duly paid. There are two kinds of stamps: judicial and non-judicial.
Judicial Stamp papers are used usually to admit cases in courtrooms, their amount being proportionate to the kind of case to be admitted. Non-judicial Stamps are generally used for documentation like the power of attorney, sale deed, rent agreement, affidavits, transfer of immovable property like building, land, mortgage or other important agreements etc.
Physical stamping of the documents required a person to manually go to the registrar’s office and pay the requisite stamp duty, however, this process was way too cumbersome and led to lots of unwelcomed paperwork. After the uncovering of the Stamp Paper scam in 2003[1], the government was looking for an alternative for physical stamps. However, the government back then was limited by the technology of their time. Eventually in the year 2013 after a lot of discussions and deliberations, the government came up with the E-stamp mechanism to ease out the cumbersome physical stamping process.
Applicable Laws for Stamps
For physical Stamps
The stamp duty is paid under Section 3 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 which covers instruments chargeable with duty. Once a stamp paper has been issued, it can never expire. In a case[2], it was held that even if a stamp paper is more than six years old, it is valid to be used. An old stamp can also be deposited back to a collector to get back a substantial return, given the collector is satisfied that the purchase has been made for bona fide intentions, the full price has been paid for the stamp and they were purchased at least three months before depositing.
For E- Stamps
E-stamps are an alternative to the physical stamping scenario. E-Stamps were started in 2013, in an effort to reduce paperwork and corruption. The Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL) is the Central Record Keeping Agency (CRA) for all e-stamps used in the country. To get an E-Stamp, one needs to visit the website of SHCIL and check if their respective state has the E-Stamp facility available. As of now, only 19 Indian states provide an E-stamp facility, the others are accepting it slowly and gradually. E-Stamp is mandatory in the state of Delhi. After registration, E-Stamps can be verified by providing information such as the name of the state, Unique Identification Number (UIN), stamp duty type, and certificate issue date.
Advantages & Disadvantages of E-stamps
Pros
●
The E-Stamp facility
has reduced the practice of counterfeiting which is quite prevalent with the
physical stamp facility.
●
The E-Stamp facility
has reduced the prevalent corruption with offline paperwork
●
The payment mechanism
has become much easier, people do not have to run from office to office to get
their stamp duty duly paid.
●
It has abolished the
license raj, given only people with political connections and backdoor networks
were able to the license for the stamp
shop
● It is tamper-free.
Cons
●
Due to the lack of
high-speed internet connectivity in India, people living in rural areas are not
able to access E-Stamp facilities.
●
Even after the increase
in the availability of internet connectivity in India in the last couple of
years people still are not through with the process. There is a lack of
awareness amongst people regarding the E-stamp system.
●
People in India are
still sceptical about the use of the Internet, stemming from their fear of
online frauds. This has also hampered the use of E-Stamps in India.
● If the E- Stamp certificate is lost, then it can’t be reissued.
Challenges
In
a country with a population of 1,391 million, it has been a difficult journey for the
government to increase awareness about e-stamp. People here are still sceptical
to use stuff online, there is still a tendency in small-town Indian trial
courts to use physical stamping, the majority population there is illiterate;
trial lawyers and corrupt officials do not want to elaborate about the E-stamp
technology since it would shut the doors on their illegal incomes. Since it
arrived in 2013, this new mechanism has faced immense hardships and very
sparingly advertised; limiting its reach to the have-nots of the Indian
population.
The Indian government needs to spread awareness about the E-stamp technology to every part of the country by organising camps, by appointing envoys in small-town trial courts who would take up the job of increasing awareness in not so literate people and telling them the alternative of the manual stamping method. In the last few years, mobile phones have become common all over India. Government should capitalize on this opportunity also and advertise as much as possible on government apps, government websites and ask the private players also to advertise about e-stamping to get rid of corruption, red-tapism and document tampering.
This
would increase the trust of people in the online way of getting their documents
stamped and would massively increase the popularity of the E-stamping
phenomenon.
By: Prakhar Tripathi
(Legal Intern, WCSF)
For more updates, please visit our we: https://www.worldcybersecurities.com/
[1] Scam 2003 The Telgi Story. All that we know so far https://www.indiatoday.in/binge-watch/story/scam-2003-the-telgi-story-all-that-we-know-so-far-1775529-2021-03-04 ( Last Modified Tuesday March 4, 2021 4:17 PM)
[2] Thiruvengada Pillai vs Navaneethammal
& Anr (2008) 4 SCC 530
Comments
Post a Comment