The provincial cabinet of Punjab has approved a major overhaul of the domicile system, raising fees by 175 percent and moving all certificate applications to a new fully digital platform.
The new fee stands at Rs550 per application, replacing the previous charge of Rs200, which represents a significant increase for citizens seeking a domicile certificate in Punjab.
| Category | Previous Fee | Current Fee | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Fee | Rs200 | Rs200 | – |
| Affidavit | – | Rs300 | +Rs300 |
| Service Charge | – | Rs50 | +Rs50 |
| Total | Rs200 | Rs550 | +Rs350 |
Of the total fee collected, Rs500 will go directly into the government treasury, while the Punjab Information Technology Board will retain Rs50 as its service charge.
Additional charges include Rs60 for courier delivery, Rs40 for security paper, and Rs50 covering data hosting, SMS notifications, and overall system maintenance costs.
Digital process
Citizens can now submit applications entirely online, make payments through the e-Pay Punjab platform, and receive their domicile certificates delivered directly to their homes by courier.
A new automated domicile management system introduced under this policy handles digital verification and data storage, cutting the certificate issuance time to just two to three days.
The Punjab Information Technology Board has estimated the average processing cost per application at Rs27.55, with annual system maintenance expected to run into millions of rupees each year.
Finance Department has formally raised concerns about the impact on public affordability and identified inconsistencies in how certain fee components within the new structure have been calculated.
Government officials have defended the new system, stating it will improve transparency in processing, speed up certificate delivery, and strengthen the province’s overall domicile data management capability.
