Bengaluru: In a bid to strengthen efficiency, transparency and security in document stamping, the Karnataka government has introduced Digital e-Stamp (DeS), which allows citizens to generate it on their own, without depending on any agent or intermediary.
The service, said to be first of its kind in the country, is available 24X7, and people can access it from anywhere in the world.
Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said that the physical papers were discontinued after the Telgi Scam that exposed a large-scale fraud involving counterfeit and reused stamp papers. Later, the Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd was appointed to issue e-stamp papers across the state, but that too had certain disadvantages as photocopiers could duplicate e-stamp certificates. Unscrupulous elements would purchase stamp papers for one purpose and use it for another, allowing them to evade or pay lesser stamp duty, causing a loss to the government.
The state was moving towards complete digital registration, where the vulnerabilities can be eliminated by adopting a fuly digital stamping system. The latest digital e-stamping system has been given legal sanctity as the government has introduced the Karnataka STamp (Amendment) Act, 2025. The present e-stamp system will be stopped in a phased manner, he said.
The new system is not only fully digital, but also fast and secure as all payments are made through approved digital methods that are available 24X7. The contents of the stamp becomes part of the document, preventing misuse. If it is lost, it can be retrieved from the system as it is digitalised, Krishna Byre Gowda said.
Explaining the advantages to the government, Krishna Byre Gowda said that evasion of payments that was causing huge losses to the government can now be prevented. The government will also save crores of rupees that was earlier paid as commission to SHCIL. The digital system enables real time monitoring and faster verification, he added.
