In short
The Act of March 10, 1904, as amended, provides that any official authorized by law to demand or receive official fees, or any person employed by that official, who maliciously demands or receives fees or honoraria greater than those permitted by law, shall be punished with a fine of no less than twenty-five dollars ($25) and no more than five hundred dollars ($500), for each infraction. It is a law with a single substantive provision and its three pieces matter equally: it reaches both the official and any person employed by them; it requires the conduct to be malicious, so it does not describe a miscalculation or a good-faith mistake; and it sets the fine per infraction, not per episode.
What is it?
It is a brief, old criminal statute that remains compiled, addressing a very concrete situation: the person authorized to charge official fees who, knowingly and maliciously, charges more than the law allows. It is not a law about counter errors; it is about malicious overcharging.
Who can do it?
Any person from whom an official authorized by law to demand or receive official fees — or any person employed by that official — has maliciously demanded or collected fees or honoraria greater than those permitted by law.
Requirements
- That the person who charged be an official authorized by law to demand or receive official fees, or a person employed by that official.Verified against the official source
- That they demanded or received fees or honoraria greater than those permitted by law, and did so maliciously.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Information pending verification.
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: First find out what it should have cost
The whole offense is defined by comparison with what the law allows: fees or honoraria “greater than those permitted by law.” Without knowing the correct amount there is no case. Ask for the fee schedule in writing, get the receipt and keep any proof of what you paid. For court filings, our court fees and fee exemption guides explain where that information lives.
Step 2: “Maliciously” is part of the offense
We say it plainly so nobody walks into a report with the wrong expectation: the law punishes whoever “maliciously” demands or receives greater fees. A miscalculation, an out-of-date rate on a sign or a good-faith mistake is not what this text describes. That does not mean you must eat the difference: it means the refund claim and the criminal report are different things.
Step 3: It reaches the employee, not only the official
The text says it expressly: “any official authorized by law to demand or receive official fees, or any person employed by that official.” That the person who charged you is not the head of the office does not take them outside the law’s reach.
Step 4: The fine is per infraction
They shall be punished with a fine of no less than twenty-five dollars ($25) and no more than five hundred dollars ($500), “for each infraction.” That last phrase is in the text and matters when the overcharge happened repeatedly.
Step 5: Where to take it
The law creates no procedure of its own and designates no agency: it creates the offense and the penalty. As a criminal matter, the route is a report to the Puerto Rico Police, which we cover step by step in its own guide. Bring the receipt, the date, the office name and, if you have it, the official fee schedule showing the correct amount.
Where to do it
The criminal report is filed with the Puerto Rico Police. If you also want a refund of the overcharge, that is an administrative step before the agency itself and is independent of the report. If the issue is that you cannot pay court fees, that is the indigency exemption guide; and if a legal aid clinic is serving you, that exemption has its own guide.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
How far this text goes. It is a short section and resolves almost none of the procedure: it creates no refund mechanism, names no enforcing agency, sets no limitations period and does not describe how malice is proven. We did not read the Penal Code or the Government Ethics Act, so we do not compare this provision with modern bribery, extortion or self-dealing offenses, and we do not describe an ethics complaint route. Nor did we read any agency fee schedule, so this guide does not say what any particular procedure should cost: that must be looked up at each agency’s source. And we repeat what matters most so as not to create false expectations: the law requires the overcharge to have been malicious. If yours was an error, the sensible route is a refund claim, not a criminal report.
Common mistakes
- Reporting without knowing the correct amount: the offense is defined by comparison with what the law allows.
- Ignoring the malice element: the law does not describe a good-faith error.
- Believing only the office head answers: the law reaches any person employed by the official.
- Throwing out the receipt: it is proof of how much you paid and when.
- Expecting the report to get your money back: the refund is a separate step before the agency.
- Looking in this law for a complaint procedure: it carries none, only the offense and the fine.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly does this law punish?
That any official authorized by law to demand or receive official fees, or any person employed by that official, maliciously demand or receive fees or honoraria greater than those permitted by law.
What is the fine?
A fine of no less than twenty-five dollars ($25) and no more than five hundred dollars ($500), for each infraction.
Does it apply if it was a counter error?
The law requires the overcharge to have been malicious. A miscalculation or good-faith mistake is not what this text describes; in that case the route is to claim a refund from the agency.
Which agency investigates?
The law designates none: it consists of the offense, the fine and its effective-date clause. As a criminal matter, the report is filed with the Puerto Rico Police.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Departamento de Justicia de Puerto Rico
Justicia
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
- Puerto Rico Police
Policía de Puerto Rico
policia.pr.gov
Last verified
August 24, 2026
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