Soon, pay court fees, fines online
NEW DELHI: An online payment option will be available soon for court fees and fines for cases pending in the lower judiciary, a move that would reduce queues of litigants and lawyers that causes overcrowding in courts.
The Supreme Court’s e-courts committee has brought necessary changes in its case information system and high courts have been asked to take up the matter with the state government for amending the court fees act to allow online payments.
The project is part of the committee’s digitisation programme, aimed at making the lower judiciary litigant-friendly and speed up disposal of cases.
The committee, headed by Justice MB Lokur of the top court, launched an e-mail alert system recently to let litigants know about their upcoming cases. Status of the case and the court’s last order is part of the message sent to them, which helps litigants recall proceedings from the previous hearing.
Court fees, also known as treasury payments, is an amount deposited with the court in civil cases such as property dispute, motor accident claims and petitions filed for arbitration. Computation of court fees varies from state to state. Even high courts have devised their own method to calculate the fees.
Since payment of court fees is regulated by law, the high courts have requested the states to amend the act for legalising digital transactions. “Several states have already done it,” said an officer requesting anonymity.
For non-treasury amounts, online payment will start after the pilot project gets over in a fortnight. These include fines imposed in criminal or contempt cases, payment of wages for labour, and maintenance money ordered in matrimonial disputes.
Once the system begins, courts can disburse payments online to parties entitled to a claim after winning their case.
In another bid to cut delays in deciding cases, the committee has agreed to provide process servers with smart phones. It will become mandatory for a process server to click a picture while delivering summons and place it before the court as e-proof. This would end the practice of incorrect reports the process servers give to courts about non-delivery of summons at the instance of litigants.