BHUBANESWAR: The acute shortage of stamp paper in the denomination of Rs 10 in the state has hit people hard as they are being forced to buy stamp papers of higher value. The problem has been compounded as taking advantage of the scarcity, some unscrupulous vendors are charging more than the actual price of the stamp papers.
Meanwhile even as the Directorate of Treasury here said there was no information on short supply, local stamp vendors said stamp paper of Rs 10 denomination was not available for more than a week.“We are not getting stamp paper of Rs 10 denomination from the local treasury. Similar is the situation in other districts including Puri. It may be available in other places of the state where the demand is less,” said a stamp vendor on condition of anonymity.
On a conservative estimate, the average daily sale of stamp paper of Rs 10 denomination is more than 6,000 in the capital city, the vendor said. “Had it been the case, district treasuries and sub-treasuries could have brought it to the notice of the directorate. We will definitely probe the alleged scarcity of stamp paper when the courts re-open on Thursday,” said an officer of the directorate dealing with stamp paper to The New Indian Express.
Non-judicial stamp paper is required for affidavits, lease agreements, purchase and sale of property, indemnity bonds, sale deeds and several other matters. A source familiar with the trade, however, said there has been a short supply of the particular denomination of stamp paper which is in great demand and the state government has not lifted the same from the Security Printing Press, Hyderabad despite intimation from the printing unit that the consignment is ready for despatch.
“The state government placed its indent for stamp papers of small denominations to the security printing press, a Central government unit, in June. It has been more than a month since the printing of the stamp papers has been completed. It is the responsibility of the state government to arrange transportation under proper security.
The delay in transportation is due to some security-related issue,” sources said. District collectors, additional district magistrates and sub-collectors are licensing authorities for stamp vendors. They are the competent authorities for cancelling the licence of a vendor who charges more than the actual price of the stamp paper, the treasury officer said.
Curious case
Directorate of Treasury claims it has no information on the shortage of Rs 10 stamp paper
Stamp paper of Rs 10 denomination already printed and ready for dispatch from Hyderabad
Artificial shortage of stamp paper of Rs 10 denomination cannot be ruled out