Maharashtra Rent Agreement, Drafted and Registered
Maharashtra is the one state where an eleven-month agreement still has to be registered. We draft the leave and licence, calculate the duty correctly under Article 36A, and handle registration across Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Thane and Nashik.
In Maharashtra, eleven months saves you nothing
Across the rest of India the eleven-month agreement exists for one reason: Section 17(1)(d) of the Registration Act, 1908 only makes registration compulsory once a lease runs a year or more. Stop at eleven and you skip the Sub-Registrar entirely.
Maharashtra layered its own requirement on top of that, and it has no duration exemption at all.
Every agreement for leave and licence, or for letting of premises, must be in writing and registered. There is no carve-out for shorter terms. An eleven-month leave and licence agreement in Maharashtra must still be registered.
This is not a technicality that quietly goes unenforced. Section 55(2) places the obligation squarely on the landlord and attaches a penalty of imprisonment up to three months, a fine up to ₹5,000, or both. There is also an evidentiary consequence: in a dispute over what was agreed, the absence of a registered agreement works against the landlord's account of the terms.
- Only s.17(1)(d) of the Registration Act applies
- Stamp the agreement and you are done
- No Sub-Registrar, no biometrics
- Section 55(1) MRC Act 1999 applies on top
- Registration compulsory whatever the term
- Landlord liable under s.55(2): up to 3 months and/or ₹5,000
We have written this up at greater length here: registration of rent agreement in Maharashtra.
There is no "2025 central rent agreement rule"
A claim circulates online that the Central Government introduced a rule in 2025 requiring every rent agreement in India to be registered within two months, with a ₹5,000 penalty. No such central rule exists. It appears to be two genuine provisions welded together by someone who did not check either.
Section 23, Registration Act, 1908
Gives you four months from execution to present a document for registration — not two. This is central law and it applies everywhere.
Section 55(2), MRC Act, 1999
Carries the ₹5,000 penalty. This is Maharashtra state law, not central, and it is about failing to register at all rather than missing a deadline.
The reason this matters beyond pedantry: if you believe a central rule already forces registration everywhere, you will assume Maharashtra is no different from Gujarat or Karnataka. It is very different, and the difference is the whole point of this page.
Article 36A, and why it is not a flat ₹500
Stamp duty on a leave and licence agreement is charged under Article 36A of the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958 at 0.25% of the total consideration for the licence period. It is a percentage, not a fixed fee, and the consideration is built from three components.
| The base is built from | Included? |
|---|---|
| Total rent payable across the whole term | Yes |
| Any non-refundable deposit or premium | Yes, in full |
| Refundable security deposit | Notional interest at 10% per year of term |
| Duty rate on the total (leave and licence up to 60 months) | 0.25% |
| Registration fee — municipal corporation area | ₹1,000 |
| Registration fee — rural area | ₹500 |
You will see "stamp duty in Maharashtra is ₹500" quoted in a lot of places. That figure is the rural registration fee, and the two get confused constantly. Paying ₹500 in stamp duty on a Mumbai tenancy leaves the document badly under-stamped, and an under-stamped instrument can be impounded and penalised before a court will act on it.
A Kothrud flat, three different terms
₹25,000 a month with a ₹1,00,000 refundable deposit, in a municipal corporation area. Because every term must be registered, the interesting comparison in Maharashtra is not eleven versus twelve months — it is how the consideration grows as the term lengthens.
| Term | Consideration | Duty + registration |
|---|---|---|
| 11 months | ₹2,85,000 | ₹713 + ₹1,000 = ₹1,713 |
| 24 months | ₹6,20,000 | ₹1,550 + ₹1,000 = ₹2,550 |
| 60 months | ₹15,50,000 | ₹3,875 + ₹1,000 = ₹4,875 |
Consideration = total rent for the term + 10% of the refundable deposit for each year of the term. Rural registration fee is ₹500 instead of ₹1,000.
Two consecutive eleven-month agreements cost you two registrations and two sets of duty. A single twenty-four month agreement costs one of each — ₹2,550 against roughly ₹3,426 for the pair. In most states the eleven-month term saves money. In Maharashtra, once you are registering anyway, the arithmetic often runs the other way.
Registration without a Sub-Registrar visit
Maharashtra runs its own registration infrastructure through the Department of Registration and Stamps, and it offers e-registration for leave and licence agreements — which means the process can often be completed without either party attending an office. Biometric verification of both parties is part of it, and availability varies by district.
Fill the form
Parties, rent, deposit and licence period.
We draft it
A proper leave and licence document, not a generic rent template.
Duty calculated and paid
Article 36A computed on your actual rent, term and deposit.
Registration coordinated
Biometrics arranged, registered copy delivered.
Need only the stamp paper? Buy Maharashtra stamp paper separately. Unsure of the denomination, see which stamp paper you need.
A sample Maharashtra leave and licence agreement
Leave and licence, not a tenancy
Maharashtra residential agreements are drafted as leave and licence, and the wording is not cosmetic. A licence permits the occupier to use the premises; a lease transfers an interest and gives exclusive possession, which brings the occupier within tenancy protections that are considerably harder for a landlord to unwind. Getting this wrong is the most consequential drafting error in the state.
Licence period and renewal
Each renewal is a fresh registrable document. Plan the term with that in mind rather than defaulting to eleven months out of habit.
Deposit treatment
State the refundable and non-refundable portions separately. They are treated differently in the duty calculation.
Society NOC and charges
Near-universal in Mumbai, Thane and Pune co-operative housing societies. Many will not permit possession without it.
Lock-in period
Standard in Mumbai. State the exit consequence, not just the lock-in length.
Registration responsibility
Section 55(2) puts the duty on the landlord. Record separately who bears the cost.
Property description
Full address with society name, wing, flat number and CTS or survey reference.
For registration
- Aadhaar — licensor and licensee
- PAN — both parties
- Two witnesses with ID
- Property details and Index-II or ownership reference
- Passport-size photographs
Tenant verification
Maharashtra Police operates tenant verification, and Mumbai Police runs an online submission facility for it.
Registering the agreement does not complete police verification — they are two different processes, and the verification obligation sits with the landlord.
Five expensive mistakes
- Assuming eleven months means no registration. Section 55(1) has no duration exemption. The costliest error in the state.
- Paying a "flat ₹500 stamp duty". That is the rural registration fee. Duty is 0.25% of consideration.
- Leaving the deposit out of the calculation. Notional interest on the refundable deposit is part of the consideration.
- Drafting a lease when you meant a licence. It changes what rights the occupier acquires and how hard it is to recover the property.
- Skipping the society NOC. Many societies will not permit possession without it. See our drafting do's and don'ts.
Delivered across Maharashtra
City-specific guidance for the two largest rental markets: rent agreement in Mumbai · rent agreement in Pune
Start your Maharashtra rent agreement
Drafted as a proper leave and licence · Article 36A duty calculated correctly · registration coordinated · scan copy the same day
Create your rent agreementFrequently asked
Does an 11-month rent agreement need registration in Maharashtra?
Yes. Section 55(1) of the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999 requires every leave and licence agreement to be in writing and registered, with no exemption for shorter terms. The eleven-month workaround used in other states does not apply here.
Is stamp duty on a Maharashtra rent agreement really ₹500?
No. ₹500 is the rural registration fee, and it gets confused with stamp duty constantly. Duty is charged under Article 36A of the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958 at 0.25% of the total consideration — total rent for the term, plus any non-refundable deposit, plus notional interest on the refundable deposit.
Is there a central rule requiring registration within two months?
No. Section 23 of the Registration Act, 1908 allows four months from execution to present a document for registration. Claims about a "2025 central rent agreement rule" with a two-month deadline are not accurate — they appear to conflate that provision with the ₹5,000 penalty under Maharashtra state law.
Who is responsible for registering the agreement?
Section 55(2) places the responsibility on the landlord, with a penalty of imprisonment up to three months, a fine up to ₹5,000, or both, for non-compliance. Who bears the cost is a separate question the parties can agree between themselves.
What is the registration fee in Maharashtra?
₹1,000 in a municipal corporation area and ₹500 in a rural area. Whether your property falls inside or outside a municipal corporation directly changes your bill.
Can the agreement be registered online in Maharashtra?
Maharashtra offers e-registration for leave and licence agreements through the Department of Registration and Stamps, with biometric verification of both parties. It can often be completed without attending an office, though availability varies by district.
Renting outside Maharashtra?
Stamp duty, registration rules and tenancy law change at every state border. Pick yours below.
Registration position per Section 55 of the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999, and Sections 17(1)(d), 23 and 49 of the Registration Act, 1908. Stamp duty per Article 36A of the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958. Registration fees per the Department of Registration and Stamps, Maharashtra. Rates are reviewed periodically — confirm with IGR Maharashtra on the date of execution.
