PORTLAND — The price of justice has gone up for anyone who takes a complaint to Small Claims Court, but officials don’t think that will hinder litigants ranging from people whose shoes don’t fit to banks and utilities that can’t get customers to pay.

As of Monday, the filing fee rose from $20 to $30, according to court officials who said they need the extra cash to deal with the large volume of letters they must send for $4 each in certified mail.

“Instead of trying to nickel and dime people every time there’s a mailing, we’re imposing a $10 fee,” said Cheryl Moreau, revenue and collections manager for the entire Maine court system. “We finally decided the people using the service should pay the fee. We’re not trying to keep people out at all.”

Litigants who cannot afford the $30 can even fill out forms to get the filing fee waived, she said.

The Small Claims Court, a division of each District Court in Maine, is in some respects similar to “The People’s Court” on television, where common people fight out their legal disputes without assistance from lawyers. In Maine, small claims cases can be for $1,400 or less, and they often involve disagreements on such things as clothing that allegedly was not altered properly or landscaping that didn’t please the buyer.

“There was a girl who had a pair of shoes here one day. The pair of shoes was evidence,” said Donna Ballingall, an assistant clerk in Portland. “I’ve seen a couple of claims against a guy who sells Maine coon cats.”

Ms. Ballingall said some of the cases are “frivolous.”

“It’s a sue-me society,” she said.

Increasingly, the Small Claims Court has been used by banks, utilities and other large businesses going after people who refuse to pay their bills.

“In Portland District Court, they had to limit Central Maine Power Co. to 20 cases a week, because they’ve been inundated with CMP cases,” Ms. Moreau said. “We’ve been sending out letters to all these `frequent filers,’ to notify them of the $10 charge.”

At CMP, spokesman Clark Irwin said the utility pursues cases in Small Claims Court as a last resort when customers refuse to respond to repeated notices that their accounts are overdue. The Small Claims Court in Augusta has also placed limitations on the number of cases that CMP can file, Irwin said.

“We understand that the courts are trying to regulate their workloads and cover their expenses,” Irwin said. “We don’t have an argument with that.”

Ms. Moreau said some 27,000 small claims cases were filed during 1989 throughout Maine. Ms. Ballingall said that in Portland, at least, the number of cases seems to be way up this year.

Sometimes, litigants settle before they go to court, and in other instances, they have the chance for a mediator to solve their dispute.

If that fails, they can present their cases directly to a judge.

The higher fees will not affect winners, because they are allowed to make the losers pay the fees, Ms. Moreau said.

“It’s really the people who killed somebody’s dog and wouldn’t pay their electric bills who will pay,” she said.