Delhi govt assures operational online single window system for lawyers' fees

New Delhi : The Delhi government informed the Delhi High Court on Tuesday that the Online Single Window System (OSWS) portal for processing the payment of professional fees to empanelled lawyers will be operational within two weeks.

The assurance came in response to a petition contending the prolonged non-payment of professional fees or retainership fee bills of empanelled lawyers.

The court directed the Delhi Law Minister to expedite the decision on the revision of fees for professionals appointed as standing counsel and address the issue of the cap on the number of appearances.

The Central government has also been asked to provide instructions on the matter. The petitioner, advocate Piyush Gupta, sought the court's intervention to compel authorities to clear the outstanding bills of government counsel engaged with the Delhi government, the Centre, and municipal bodies.

The court had previously directed the clearance of pending bills in August 2020, but the petitioner claimed that despite various representations, the bills remained unresolved. The matter has been listed for further hearing on April 8.