The Assam government on Mondayproposed the option of electronic payment of court fees, fines and stamp duty.Introducing The Court-Fees (Assam Amendment) Bill, 2020 in the Assembly, Law and Justice Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya said people pay fees and fines though impressed or adhesive stamps, which are not readily available."It entails a huge expenditure to the government for printing them. Sometimes, the litigant public has to collect the impressed or adhesive stamps from the Treasury at the cost of their valuable time," he said.It also causes inconvenience to the public while there have been instances where fees were paid through fake stamps, Bhattacharya said."E-payment of court fees, fines and stamp duty will make payment easier and will also do away with the possibility of using fake impressed or adhesive stamps," he said in the Statement of Objects and Reasons in the Bill.Further, with the advancement of Information Technology, the introduction of the e-payment of court dues has also become imperative, Bhattacharya said.
