Punjab govt withdraws court fee hike notification

LAHORE: The Punjab government on Saturday withdrew its notification for an increase in the court fee, bringing much relief to the litigators.

As per the new notification, issued following the approval given by the provincial governor, the fee has been reduced from Rs500 to Rs10.

The government of Punjab had significantly increased court fees and stamp duties across the province under the Punjab Finance Act 2024.

The fees for various court-related activities went up dramatically by 500 per cent to 1000 per cent.

The fee for court tickets for civil and criminal petitions was increased from Rs2 to Rs500, and transferring cases from Rs5 to Rs500.

Requesting court records had surged from Rs2 to Rs500, and filing a memorandum of appeal, claim, or supervision had jumped from Rs15 to Rs500.

Civil and criminal lawyers, who previously paid Rs2 per ticket, now had to pay Rs100. Tickets that once cost between Rs5 and Rs15 now cost Rs500.