Maharashtra Passes Stamp Act Amendment Raising Local Decision Limits

The reform shifts higher-value stamp duty adjudication to district and regional officials to ease the state registrar’s backlog.

Overview

Both the Legislative Council and Assembly approved the Maharashtra Stamp (Amendment) Bill, 2026 on March 9 after clause-by-clause consideration in the lower house.
The amendment to Section 52A decentralises authority so more stamp duty cases are decided locally rather than at the Inspector General of Registration.
New thresholds raise the district collector’s limit from ₹5 lakh to ₹20 lakh, enabling local disposal of higher-value matters.
Financial powers increase to ₹50 lakh for the deputy inspector general of registration (excluding Mumbai) and to ₹1 crore for the additional controller of stamps in Mumbai and the chief controlling revenue authority.
The government also introduced the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (Amendment) Bill, 2026 as part of wider revenue administration changes.