Mumbai, March 9 (IANS) Both the houses of the state Legislature on Monday unanimously passed the Maharashtra Stamp (Amendment) Bill 2026, which aims to ensure the rapid disposal of pending stamp duty cases and to streamline administrative processes. ​

The bill was tabled by Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule. With a substantial hike in the financial powers of local-level officers, citizens will no longer need to approach the Inspector General of Registration (IGR) level for decisions on various stamp duty-related matters, said the Minister.​

By amending Section 52-A of the current Act, administrative powers have been decentralised. This move is expected to reduce the massive workload on the IGR office and facilitate quicker decision-making at the local level, he stated.​

With the amendments, the Collector (Stamps) can decide on stamp duty-related matters up to Rs 20 lakh, the Deputy Inspector General of Inspection (excluding Mumbai) can handle matters of Rs 50 lakh, the additional controller of stamps (Mumbai) of Rs 1 crore and the chief controlling revenue authority of Rs 1 crore.​

Speaking on the bill, Minister Bawankule stated, “Currently, many cases remain pending with the State Inspector General of Registration simply because the financial limits of local officials were too low. This forced citizens to make frequent trips to Mumbai, causing significant mental distress. Now, high-value cases can be resolved at the Collector and Deputy Inspector General levels. This will bring transparency and help clear the massive backlog of pending work.”​

The Legislative Council had already approved Bill No. 9 (2026) before it was introduced in the Legislative Assembly. Today, the Assembly considered the bill clause by clause and passed it by a majority.​

Along with this, the ‘Maharashtra Land Revenue Code Amendment Bill 2026’ (Bill No. 2) was also tabled in the House, said the minister. This historic reform is expected to accelerate the functioning of the Revenue Department and assist in swiftly resolving technical difficulties in property sale and purchase transactions, remarked Minister Bawankule.

​–IANS

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