Andhra Pradesh - Eluru

Acute shortage of revenue stamps

ELURU: It is literally a wild goose chase for the users of Re. 1 revenue stamps in West Godavari district.

The post offices across the district are flooded with the requests by people for the stamps. But the personnel of the postal department are expressing their inability to meet the demand.

The shortage of stamps is so acute that a city-based builder Raghuram had to go to Vijayawada all the way recently for the revenue stamps after his trials within the district did not work.

To his chagrin, his trip to Vijayawada too did not yield results. Use of the Re. 1 revenue stamps for him was essential on the vouchers pertaining to expenditures crossing Rs 5,000 for the purpose of filing of income tax returns. Similar was the problem of many users of the revenue stamps in the district.

According to S.M.S.S.V. Prasad, Assistant Superintendent, Department of Posts, Eluru division, the people in the district are experiencing the problem for the last one month.

The State government prints and supplies the revenue stamps to the Circle of Stamps Department and the post offices sell them on commission basis.

According to an estimate, 2-3 lakh Re. 1 revenue stamps are required in Eluru division alone, covering 18 mandals. All the three divisions of the postal department such as Tadepalligudem and Bhimavaram, besides Eluru are said to be facing shortage of stamps.

The postmasters of the respective post offices in the district reportedly placed an indent before the CSD for the revenue stamps a couple of months ago. But there appear to be no signs of arrival of the stamps yet.

An official from the Postal department said there was no such problem earlier when the practice of procuring the stamps from the District Treasuries was in vogue some four years ago.

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