The Delhi Government has stopped the process of acquisition of physical stamp papers and since October it has not placed any new orders with the Government of India Press, Nasik, for these.
Inspector General of Registration in the Revenue Department of Delhi Government Nila Mohanan says though physical stamp papers are still being sold in the market, the process would only last as long as the old stocks remain with the vendors. “Thereafter, people would automatically have to adopt the e-stamping mode.”
To ensure that those desirous of availing of the stamping facility were not inconvenienced in any way, the official said over 1,000 authorised collections centres have been opened.
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Between 60,000 and 65,000 e-stamps are already being generated each day. This is more than a three-fold increase since e-stamping was introduced for all categories of stamp papers in July this year. At that time, about 15,000 to 20,000 e-stamps were being generated every day.
While it was on April 1, 2008, that the Delhi Government implemented e-stamping of non-judicial stamp papers of denominations of Rs.501 and above through M/s Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited, it was only in July this year that Delhi became the first State in the country to issue e-stamp papers in all denominations.
Though the Government had announced that it expected a complete switchover to e-stamp mode by July-end, that did not happen. However, use of physical stamp papers has been decreasing as no fresh requisition orders are being placed for them.
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As for the time taken in the complete transition, the Delhi Government had stated that SHCIL has provided the services to the satisfaction of the department and “this period of three-and-a-half years has seen as the evolution of e-stamping and its acceptance by the public at large in a very smooth manner”.
On the financial implication of expanding the scope of e-stamping, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said her government will save a huge amount on account of payment of printing charges to the Government of India Press, Nasik, and transportation expenditure from Nasik to Delhi and further loading and unloading charges.
Till July this year, e-stamp collection per month was in the range of Rs.200 crore (estimated to be Rs. 2,400 crore per annum) which used to be deposited in government accounts within two days. On the other hand, the annual sale of non-judicial stamp paper of denomination of Rs.500 and below was only about Rs.60 crore.