Court Fee Calculator
Work out the approximate ad valorem court fee payable on instituting a civil suit in Bihar from the value of your claim, including where the statutory ceiling applies.
Enter the value of your claim to see an estimate.
Court fee in Bihar at common claim values
Computed on the same ad valorem scale as the calculator above — ₹80 per ₹5,000 of value or part of it, capped at ₹50,000. Notice how the effective percentage collapses once the ceiling is reached.
| Value of the suit | Slabs of ₹5,000 | Court fee | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹50,000 | 10 | ₹800 | 1.60% |
| ₹1,00,000 | 20 | ₹1,600 | 1.60% |
| ₹2,00,000 | 40 | ₹3,200 | 1.60% |
| ₹5,00,000 | 100 | ₹8,000 | 1.60% |
| ₹10,00,000 | 200 | ₹16,000 | 1.60% |
| ₹20,00,000 | 400 | ₹32,000 | 1.60% |
| ₹31,00,000 | 620 | ₹49,600 | 1.60% |
| ₹50,00,000 | 1,000 | ₹50,000ceiling | 1.00% |
Figures are the ad valorem court fee only. Process fee, the cost of certified copies and the advocate's professional fee are separate and payable in addition.
How this is worked out
The Court Fees (Bihar Amendment) Act, 1995 substituted Schedule I of the Court Fees Act, 1870 with an ad valorem scale that rises by ₹80 for every ₹5,000 of value or part thereof, subject to a ceiling of ₹50,000. This calculator applies that scale to the value you enter.
- The hard part is not the arithmetic but the valuation: how a suit must be valued depends on the relief claimed, and an incorrect valuation invites an objection at the threshold.
- Fixed court fees apply to many applications and petitions rather than this ad valorem scale — bail applications, most interlocutory applications and several classes of petition among them.
- Process fees, pleader's fee, and the cost of certified copies are payable in addition to court fee.
- Court fee is ordinarily refundable where the matter is settled through mediation or a Lok Adalat.
This is an estimate for orientation, not a computation you can file on. Rates, exemptions and statutory periods change, and the figure that applies to your matter depends on facts this page cannot know. Confirm it with the chamber before you act on it.
Questions
Court fee in Bihar is ad valorem — it rises with the value of the claim. Under the Court Fees (Bihar Amendment) Act, 1995, the scale steps up by ₹80 for every ₹5,000 of value or part thereof, subject to a maximum of ₹50,000. Because it is charged per part-slab, a claim of ₹5,001 attracts the same step as one of ₹10,000.
A claim of ₹5,00,000 falls into 100 slabs of ₹5,000, so the ad valorem court fee works out to ₹8,000 — that is 1.6% of the claim. Enter your own figure in the calculator above to see the equivalent for your suit, including the slab breakdown.
Yes. The ad valorem scale is capped at ₹50,000. Beyond a claim value of roughly ₹31 lakh the fee stops rising, so a very large suit costs the same in court fee as one at the ceiling. This is why the effective percentage falls sharply on high-value claims.
It depends on the relief. A suit for recovery of money is valued at the sum claimed; a suit for declaration or possession is valued under the rules applicable to that relief, which may look to the market value of the property or to a notional value. Getting the valuation wrong invites an objection and can delay the suit at the threshold.
Court fee is paid by way of judicial stamps affixed to the plaint, or through the electronic court-fee system where the court accepts it. The receipt or the e-stamp certificate must be filed with the plaint; a suit presented without the correct court fee is liable to be returned for deficiency at the registry stage.
Where a matter is settled through mediation, Lok Adalat or a court-referred settlement, the court fee paid is ordinarily refundable. This is a deliberate statutory encouragement to settle, and it is worth factoring in before deciding to fight a matter to judgment.
No, and they are unrelated. Court fee is a statutory levy payable to the State on instituting the proceeding; the advocate's professional fee is separate and is agreed between you and the chamber. Process fee, the cost of certified copies and expenses of service are further separate items.
Need the real figure, not an estimate?
Bring your papers to the chamber and get the number that actually applies — along with what to do about it.