TNN
Bangalore, Mar 15: E-stamping is all set replace conventional stamp papers. If the pilot e-stamping project launched by governor Rameshwar Thakur on Friday proves successful, it could completely replace stamp papers.
Introduced by the stamps and registration department, e-stamping is a web-based application which can be used to pay stamp duty. The department has tied up with the Stocks Holding Corporation of India Ltd (SHClL), which will be the central record-keeping agency to sell and monitor e-stamping. The scheme was mooted after the Telgi stamp paper racket rocked the state, to bring about a tamper-proof process of generating secure stamp papers.
Releasing a booklet on e-stamping, Lok Ayukta Justice N Santhosh Hegde asked the government to introduce stamp-vending machines, which would further reduce corruption at the sub-registrar's office. Justice Hegde later said an inquiry by the CBI or banking ombudsman should be conducted into the alleged involvement of certain nationalized banks in the stamp paper racket.
After the scam surfaced, the government stopped selling stamp paper and told five national banks to print and sell them. "The system has not been set right even after this measure. There should be a thorough inquiry," Hegde said.
The e-stamp certificate has three security features — 2-dimensional barcode, watermark and micro-digitization. Once the certificate is issued, the document cannot be copied. The 2-D barcode captures all the data and anyone trying to duplicate the certificate will only get copies, which will be marked as such. Stamp papers are used mainly by banks and financial institutions for pledge documents, mortgage documents, indemnities and affidavits to be executed in their favour, travelling vendors and residents of small villages whose requirements are small and occasional.
E-stamping counters have been set up at the Advocates' Cooperative Society and the Gandhinagar SRO. In the next few weeks, six counters in Bangalore — Shivajinagar; Jayanagar and four SHCIL counters — will be installed.