Partnership deed in Punjab and Chandigarh: stamp, registration and the firm
A partnership deed is written on stamp paper, but our page prints no rupee figure for the duty in either Punjab or Chandigarh: it names the governing article for each place and asks you to confirm the current amount at the Sub-Registrar before you buy the stamp.
The deed itself has to be registered only if a partner brings immovable property into the firm as capital; where the capital is cash alone, it need not be.
Registering the firm with the Registrar of Firms is a separate, optional step, but section 69 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 stops an unregistered firm, and its partners, from suing to enforce most contractual rights.
Checked on against our Partnership Deed page and its notes on stamp duty, registration and the Registrar of Firms, which cover Punjab and Chandigarh. We print no stamp duty figure for a partnership deed because the official tables move and we could not pin either to a current, dated notification, so confirm the amount at the Sub-Registrar before you buy stamp. Guide updated .
What does a partnership deed do?
Two or more people starting a business together in Punjab or Chandigarh use a partnership deed to fix the firm’s name and business, each partner’s capital, how profits and losses are shared, who manages the firm and who can bind it, and what happens when a partner retires, is expelled, dies or becomes insolvent.
It is usually the first paper a new firm needs, because most of what follows asks for a copy: the bank account, PAN, GST and Udyam registration and a trade licence. Our free partnership deed takes you through the partners, the firm, capital and profit sharing, management, and then registration, disputes and signing.
A partnership is not a limited liability partnership: each partner stays personally liable for the firm’s debts, with no limit. Partners who want their liability limited should look at an LLP agreement instead, and a one-person business wants a sole proprietorship declaration, not a deed.
How much stamp duty does a partnership deed attract in Punjab and Chandigarh?
| Place | What our page names |
|---|---|
| Punjab | Article 46, Schedule I-A to the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as applicable in Punjab, which commonly bands the duty by the capital contributed; the department’s table is at revenue.punjab.gov.in |
| Chandigarh | The equivalent partnership article in the Chandigarh Administration’s Rates of Stamp Duty and Registration Fees table at revenue.chd.gov.in; the Sub-Registrar’s office is at 30 Bays Building |
Buy an e-stamp before the deed is signed. If the firm is reconstituted later, with a partner joining, retiring or the shares changing, that is a fresh instrument of partnership, charged separately under the same article.
See our Punjab stamp duty guide and our Chandigarh stamp duty guide for how those schedules are published, or our stamp duty page for the tables.
Does the partnership deed itself have to be registered?
Only sometimes. The deed must be registered at the Sub-Registrar under the Registration Act, 1908 if it transfers immovable property into the firm, because section 17(1)(b) reaches an instrument that transfers an interest in immovable property worth more than Rs 100. Where the capital is cash alone, the deed need not be registered. Have any contributed property valued realistically before anyone signs, since an undervalued figure can be reopened on stamp duty and on the value of a partner’s share.
Do you have to register the firm with the Registrar of Firms?
No, it is optional: nothing compels you to file Form 1. But section 69 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 stops an unregistered firm, and a partner of one, from suing anybody to enforce a right arising from a contract, and stops a partner suing the firm or a co-partner on a right arising from the partnership. The exceptions are narrow: a suit for dissolution or for accounts after dissolution, and a small claim within the Small Cause Court limit. Partners usually discover the bar only once a dispute has begun.
You file Form 1 with the executed deed, the prescribed fee and the partners’ identity proof. In Punjab the Registrar of Firms and Societies is the one for the district in which the firm’s principal place of business lies. In Chandigarh it is the Registrar of Firms, Union Territory of Chandigarh.
Does a partnership deed need witnesses or a notary?
The law does not require a notary for the deed, though many banks and Registrars of Firms ask to see a notarised copy with the original. Two witnesses attesting the signing is the near-universal convention for a deed on stamp paper, though not a statutory requirement. Our deed asks for them.
What should the partners agree before they start?
- Each partner’s PAN, address and the capital they are putting in
- The firm’s proposed name, its principal place of business and precisely what business it will carry on
- How profits and losses are to be shared
- Who manages the firm day to day, and who may operate its bank account
- What is to happen if a partner retires, dies, becomes insolvent or is expelled
- Two witnesses
Two more things to settle now. Is any partner already in a competing or related firm? A disclosure recorded in the deed avoids an argument later. And does the firm need licences beyond the Registrar of Firms, such as GST registration once turnover crosses the threshold, Shop and Establishment registration, a trade licence, FSSAI or Udyam? The deed constitutes the firm; it does not authorise the business.
Once the firm exists, a record of who may operate its bank account follows, with its Udyam (MSME) self-declaration. When a partner later leaves or the firm closes, a retirement or reconstitution deed or a dissolution deed follows.
Questions people ask
How much stamp duty does a partnership deed attract in Punjab and Chandigarh?
We do not print a figure for either place, deliberately. Both places charge this paper under their own partnership stamp article, and both official fee tables move without notice, so an old rupee figure would be worse than none. Confirm the current amount with the Sub-Registrar, or the department’s own published table, before you buy the stamp paper.
Does a partnership deed have to be registered at the Sub-Registrar?
Only if a partner brings immovable property into the firm as capital. Where the capital is cash alone, the deed itself need not be registered. Registering the firm with the Registrar of Firms is a separate, optional step.
Do I have to register my partnership firm with the Registrar of Firms?
No, it is optional, and nothing compels you to file Form 1. But section 69 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 stops an unregistered firm, and a partner of one, from suing anybody to enforce a right arising from a contract, so most firms register anyway.
Should I use a partnership deed or an LLP agreement to start my business?
The core difference is liability. Under a partnership deed each partner remains personally liable for the firm’s debts, while an LLP keeps that liability limited to what each partner put in. If limiting personal exposure matters to the founders, that is the reason to choose an LLP agreement; it is not a difference in how the business is run day to day.
Does bringing property in as capital change anything about registering the deed?
Yes. Where a partner contributes immovable property worth more than Rs 100 as capital, a deed that need not have been registered must be, because section 17(1)(b) of the Registration Act, 1908 reaches an instrument that transfers an interest in property of that value. Have the property valued realistically before the deed is signed, since an undervalued figure can be reopened later.
This guide explains the rules as our document pages state them. It is not legal advice about your own situation; for that, speak to somebody who has heard your facts.