CHAPTER 10

STAMPS RETURNS AND REPORTS

1. (a) Terminal{Government of India, Department of commerce letter No. 6280,dated 29^th November 1922) reports are no longer required by the Government of India but each Deputy Commissioner is required to furnish annually thorough the commissioner of the Division a brief note on the stamp administration of his district which will be supplied by the Financial commissioners . In the note appended to the tables the following matters should be noted :-

(i) Explain of any important variations in gross receipts and charges

(ii) Explanation of any important variations in receipts from sales of court-fee stamps, including remarks concerning recoveries on account of pauper suits .

(b). In preparing the note the following principles should be carefully followed:-

(i) The note should contain only the explanation of really important or suggestive variations in the statistics, and really noteworthy facts in the history of the year’s administration.

(ii) No mere paraphrasing and reproduction of the statistics should be allowed

(iii) All attempts to officer explanations of variations in figures , which are not important or unusual, should be excluded , unless the fact alleged in explanation is in itself important enough to demand mention .

(iv) The idea that it is necessary to say something should be discarded, and it should be recognised that the briefer a note is the better, if it says all that need be said t show an intelligent comprehension of the meaning of the fact and figures and of the salient feature of the year’s work .

(c). Commissioners are not required to review the returns submitted by Deputy Commissioners but should bring to notice in a forwarding letter any special points which are considered to be of interest.

2. (a) The annual return receives will be consolidated in the office of the Financial commissioners who are required to submit statistics for the province to the local Government accompanied by a brief note on the administration of the stamp Department .

(b) The note submitted by the Financial Commissioners will be confined to variations worthy of remark and such other special points as are considered worthy of notice. It will also include a brief account of the work done by the stamp auditor.

3. The dates on which the annual statement with notes are due are given below:-

From Deputy commissioner to commissioner - 1^st May

From commissioner to Financial Commissioner - 15^th May

From financial commissioner to Punjab Government - 15^th July

From Punjab Government to Government of India - 1^st. August

The punctual submission of the district returns is of the utmost importance, as delays on the part of Deputy Commissioner necessarily delay the consideration of the statement in the office of the Financial Commissioner . As a precaution against such delays, the Deputy commissioners should submit to the Assistant Secretary to Financial commissioners , in advance by the 1^st May each year, their office copies of the annual returns , which will be returned to them by the Financial Commissioners after the provincial returns have been printed and published .

4. In addition to the annual stamp returns , there are other returns submitted to the financial commissioners a list of which is attached.

Serial no.	Description of report or return	Authority	Latest date of submission by collectors	Date of submission by commissioners	Date of submission by Fin. Comms.	To whom submitted
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1	Monthly Stamp income statement …	Punjab Government resolution no. 299, dated 5^th February 1876	First week of the month succeeding that to which it relates	…	….	….
2	Stamp transactions statement	Punjab Government letter No. 31690 FG dated 6 November 1928	Ditto	….	….	…..
3	Plus and minus relating to stamps	Financial commissioner’s letter No. 4606 S. R. dated 17 Sep. 1928	Ditto	…..	….	……
4	Statement of expenditure relating to head – “ 7 stamps “	Paragraph 14.5 of the Punjab Budget Manual and Financial Commissioners letter No. 3304 –A dt. 3 July 1934	10^th of the month of following that to which it relates.	15^th of the month following that to which it relates	20^th . Ditto	(1) (2) Accountant General , Punjab. Finance Dept
5	Statement of “ deduct refunds” under head VII of stamps .”	Ditto…	Ditto	Ditto	Ditto	Ditto
	Quarterly
6	Indents for low value non – postal stamps.	Rule 6 of Punjab Stamps indent rules [a1] 1934,	Ist week of January , April , July and Oct. each year.	…..	By the last week of January ,April , July, oct. each year.	Controller of stamps ,central stamp store, Nasik Road.
7	Annual indents for high value non-postal stamps	Rule 7 of Punjab indent rules 1934	……	By the end of July	Controller of stamps, central stamp store, Nasik road.
8	Annual forecast of court-fee and non-judicial stamps including revenue stamps.	Rule 8(I) of the Govt. of India rules for the supply and distribution of stamps	…..	15^th August	Ditto
9	Budget estimate of stamp revenue, under head “VII stamps”	Appendix D to the Pb. Budget Manual	15^th oct.	10^th Nov	Finance dept.
10	List of sub and branch postmasters licensed to sell non judicial stamps in the Punjab.	…….	15^th May	1^st August	Post Master –Gen Pb.
11	Annual statement of gross value of postage stamps and postal stationery sold by treasuries in the Punjab including the imperial treasury at Gilgit.	…….	……	15^th May	Ditto
12	Budget estimates of expenditure under head “ 7 stamps”	Appendix D to the Pb. Budget Manual	1^st oct.	15^th Oct.		(1)Accountant General , Punjab. Finance Dept
13	First statement of excess and surrendered relating to head “ 7 stamps”	Para 10.3 of the Pb. Budget Manual	5^th Nov.	20^th Nov.		Ditto
14	Second statement of excess and surrenders relating to head “ 7 stamps”	Para 10.4 of the Pb. Budget Manual	5^th Jan.	15^th January

5. From other sources the Financial commissioners get the following returns .

Serial No.	Description of returns	From whom due	Authority	Latest date of submission to fina. Comm.(s)	Remarks
	Monthly
1. 1	Statement of receipts under head “ VII—Stamps	Accountant – general Punjab	Punjab Government Resolution No. 1531, dated 6^th August 1889.	First week of the month next but one after that to which it relates
2. 2	Invoices of non-postal stamps supplied to the treasuries in the Pb.	Controller of stamps central stamp store Nasik road	Rule 11 of the Govt. of India rules for the supply and distribution of stamps	Ditto
3. 3	Statements showing deficiencies in stamp duties and court-fees discovered made by courts and collectors at the instance of stamp Auditor s	Stamp auditors	Rule 18 of “the Punjab stamp audit Instructions, 1933”	First week of the month following that to which it relates
4. 4	Annual
5. 5	Statement showing duties realize on probate and letters of administration	Registrar , High court, Lahore	Punjab Govt. letter No. 20250 F dt.9^th July 1926”	15^th May
6. 6	Statement showing sale – proceeds of postage stamps.	Treasury officer Gilgit	……	1^st May

6. The following is a list of the returns due from the Financial Commissioners to the officers mentioned in column 3:-

Sl No.	Description of returns	From whom due	Authority	Latest date of submission to fina. Comm.(s)
	Monthly
1	Plus minus memo of special adhesive stamps	Accountant general , Punjab	Accountant generals letter No. T.M 5304, dated 8^th August 1896	First week of the month following that to which it relates
	Quarterly
2.	Indents for special adhesive stamps	Controller of stamps , central stamp Store Nasik Road	Pb. Got . letter No. 1251 E & s. dated 26^th Feb. 1934	Ditto
	Annual
3	Establishment Returns of the Stamp Department	Accountant general of Punjab	Article 62 (1) of civil Account Code Vol I	15^th May

Great care should be taken that the returns are correctly prepared and despatched on or before the prescribed dates. Before signing any return the Treasury Officer or the Collector , as the case may be, should satisfy himself that the various columns of the statement have been correctly filled in and that the explanation, if any furnished is clear and precise. Further to save correspondence, any increase or decrease of Rs. 1000 and upwards under any sub-head of stamp income in any month compared with the figures of the same month in the proceeding year should invariably be briefly explained in column 7 of the monthly stamp income statement ( form A. & T. No 87) it should be remembered that delays cause general dislocation and confusion and fail to serve the object for which returns are prescribed.

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[a1]See chapter 2 of this part