Ludhiana, Sept. 27 -- A Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisations (FICO) delegation led by president Gurmeet Singh Kular met minister for industries and commerce Sanjeev Arora to demand the removal of stamp duty and hypothecation charges on loans and discuss other issues faced by the industry. Hypothecation charges are paid on the value of the property mortgaged against the loan.

The Punjab government levies a stamp duty of 0.25 per cent of the loan amount for loans sanctioned by banks/ loan crediting companies. Additionally, in the case of hypothecation and equitable mortgage, the 0.25 per cent is charged separately for both.

FICO, in a press release, said, "It has been a prolonged demand of the industry that the stamp duty...