Pune: The increased penalty of Rs1 lakh for executing property documents without sufficient stamp duty would be effective from Jan 1 this year. “The amendment increasing the penalty was notified on Dec 31, 2025. It will be implemented from Jan 1, 2026. Any case registered by the department regarding a shortfall in stamp duty after that date will attract the revised penalty provisions,” an official from the Inspector General of Registration (IGR) office said on Monday.Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had highlighted it while presenting the Maharashtra Budget for 2026-27 on March 6. He had said the government proposed raising the penalty for executing property registration documents with insufficient stamp duty to Rs1 lakh from the existing 5,000. The IGR official said the new penalty would be imposed for cases that came up this year from Jan. “We are assessing the cases that will attract the new provisions,” he said.The revised penalty involves amendments to sections 59, 60, 63A and 68A of the Maharashtra Stamp Act, which deal with punishment for instruments executed without adequate stamp duty. The penal provisions under the Maharashtra Stamp Act provide for rigorous imprisonment and penalty upon conviction if an instrument is executed with insufficient stamp duty. Officials said the amended provisions would strengthen action against deliberate underpayment of stamp duty on property documents and other instruments. Under the revised rules, any person who, with the intention of evading duty, executes or signs an instrument chargeable with stamp duty without it being duly stamped can, upon conviction, face imprisonment for a term ranging from one to six months, or a fine of up to Rs1 lakh, or both.Officials said the change was intended to curb cases where parties deliberately executed agreements or other instruments with lower stamp duty than required.
