Rent agreement in Punjab and Chandigarh, 2026
An eleven-month rent agreement is stamped at 4% of the annual rent in Punjab, and at 2% of the annual average rent plus a separate 3% on the refundable security deposit in Chandigarh.
Registration is optional for a genuinely eleven-month tenancy with rent paid monthly, but not where the Punjab Rent Act, 1995 reaches the premises: that Act needs its own Schedule I agreement, registered, on a flat Rs 1,000 fee.
No law requires a notary, though banks and government offices often ask for a notarised copy.
Checked on against the fee tables published by the Punjab Revenue Department and the Chandigarh Administration, and the statutes our rent agreement pages cite. Neither table carries a date or a notification number, so confirm each figure at the Sub-Registrar’s counter before you buy stamp. The position under Chandigarh’s tenancy law after 30 May 2026 was not verified. Guide updated .
What is an eleven-month rent agreement, and why eleven months?
A rent agreement (kiraya nama) writes down the rent, the deposit, who repairs what, the notice each side owes and how the tenancy ends. Without one, possession handed over can create a tenancy at will or a monthly tenancy under section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, on terms nobody wrote down.
The usual term is eleven months because a lease for more than a year, or one reserving a yearly rent, must be registered under section 17(1)(d) of the Registration Act, 1908. Eleven months with the rent reserved monthly falls outside that rule, but an agreement that fixes the rent as an annual figure is still compulsorily registrable, so state it monthly.
Which rent law applies to your flat in Punjab or Chandigarh?
Settle this before you fill in the form, not after. Chandigarh has one answer. Punjab has two, split by the date of the letting and the age of the building.
| Premises | Law | Eleven-month agreement |
|---|---|---|
| Chandigarh, any letting | East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949 | No form prescribed, no registration required. |
| Punjab, first let before 30 November 2013 | The 1949 Act continues | Registration optional. |
| Punjab, built on or after 30 November 2013 and within fifteen years of completion | Outside the Punjab Rent Act, 1995 (section 3(1)(c)) | Pure contract. Registration optional. |
| Punjab, a fresh letting after 30 November 2013 of any other building | Punjab Rent Act, 1995 | Schedule I agreement, registered, on a flat Rs 1,000 fee. Eleven months does not save it. |
The words people drop are “constructed on or after 30 November 2013”. A house completed in 2012 and first let in 2026 is not exempt: the 1995 Act applies in full and the eleven-month form is the wrong document. Keep the completion or occupation certificate with the agreement.
How much stamp duty does a rent agreement cost in Punjab and Chandigarh?
Chandigarh’s table has no slab for a lease of under a year, so an eleven-month tenancy is charged on the row for a lease up to five years.
| Punjab | Chandigarh | |
|---|---|---|
| Stamp duty | 4% of the annual rent. The deposit is not added. | 2% of the annual average rent plus a separate 3% on the refundable security deposit, never advance rent. |
| On Rs 20,000 a month | Rs 9,600 | About Rs 6,600 with a Rs 60,000 deposit (Rs 4,800 plus Rs 1,800). |
| If you register | 1% of the annual rent, Rs 500 facilitation, Rs 200 pasting. | 1% of the annual average rent, maximum Rs 10,000, Rs 20 pasting. |
No statute in Punjab or Chandigarh puts the duty on the landlord rather than the tenant. Our agreement splits it equally; change that clause if you agreed otherwise.
Buy the stamp before you sign, of the correct value and dated on or before the date of signature. A Rs 100 stamp paper is convention, not law, and under-stamps very nearly every tenancy. An under-stamped agreement is liable to be impounded and cannot be received in evidence until the deficit and a penalty of up to ten times the deficiency are paid.
Does an eleven-month rent agreement have to be registered?
Not a genuinely eleven-month tenancy with monthly rent outside the Punjab Rent Act, 1995: registration is optional, and that is the reason for the eleven months. Where the 1995 Act reaches the premises it is compulsory.
Register anyway if the tenant needs the address as proof for an Aadhaar update, passport verification, a gas connection, a driving licence or a voter ID, which an unregistered agreement is often turned away for.
- Where: in Punjab, the Sub-Registrar or Joint Sub-Registrar of the tehsil; in Chandigarh, the Sub-Registrar, UT Chandigarh, at the 30 Bays Building, Sector 17.
- When: within four months of execution (section 23, Registration Act, 1908).
- Who: both parties, or an authorised attorney, in person, with two identifying witnesses who bring their own original photo ID and address proof.
Do you need a notary or witnesses?
No statute requires a rent agreement to be notarised, and notarisation is not registration: a notarised but under-stamped agreement is still liable to be impounded. It proves the parties appeared and signed, and banks, HRA employers, schools and utility offices routinely ask for a notarised copy, so for an unregistered agreement it is usually worth the hour. Notarise on or after the date of signing, never before.
Use two witnesses. No statute requires them for an unregistered eleven-month tenancy, but two is invariable practice, and a witness who can be called is the cleanest proof of the signing.
What mistakes do landlords and tenants make?
- Using the eleven-month form where the Punjab Rent Act, 1995 applies. Only its Schedule I agreement, registered, will do.
- Counting Chandigarh’s duty on the rent alone and forgetting the separate 3% on the deposit.
- Writing the rent as an annual figure, which can force registration.
- Letting it roll over. The agreement does not renew itself, so a tenant who stays on needs a fresh written agreement.
- Signing with one of two joint owners. Every co-owner must be named and must sign.
- Skipping police verification of the tenant, which both jurisdictions require.
- Using it for a shop or office, or for a term longer than eleven months.
- Expecting a notice to return the flat. In Chandigarh our page says recovery means an application to the Rent Controller on a section 13 ground.
How do you make a rent agreement on Kagaznama for free?
Fill in our free eleven-month rent agreement in five short steps: the property, the landlord, the tenant, the rent and deposit, and the term. It asks one question first, which settles the place and the rent law. Have ready both sides’ PAN, phone and email, the full address, the agreed rent and deposit, and the completion date if the building is newer than 30 November 2013. Then keep rent receipts for the tenant’s HRA claim.
Questions people ask
Is an eleven-month rent agreement valid without registration in Punjab and Chandigarh?
Yes, for a genuinely eleven-month tenancy with rent paid monthly: registration is optional in Chandigarh, and in Punjab outside the Punjab Rent Act, 1995. Where that Act reaches the premises, only its own Schedule I agreement, registered on a flat Rs 1,000 fee, will do, whatever term the document says. Stamping is a separate matter: an under-stamped agreement can be impounded and cannot be used as evidence until the shortfall and a penalty are paid.
What is the stamp duty on a rent agreement in Punjab and Chandigarh?
In Punjab, 4% of the annual rent: Rs 9,600 on a rent of Rs 20,000 a month, with the deposit not added. In Chandigarh, 2% of the annual average rent plus a separate 3% on the refundable security deposit, never on advance rent: about Rs 6,600 on the same rent with a Rs 60,000 deposit. Both were checked on 6 September 2026 against undated published tables, so confirm them at the Sub-Registrar’s counter.
Which rent Act applies to my flat in Punjab?
It depends on the date of the letting and the age of the building. A Punjab letting made before 30 November 2013 stays under the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949, which also covers Chandigarh. A fresh letting after that date falls under the Punjab Rent Act, 1995, unless an exception applies, the commonest being a building constructed on or after 30 November 2013 and still within fifteen years of completion.
Does the Chandigarh stamp duty apply to the security deposit?
Yes. Chandigarh charges 2% on the annual average rent and a further 3% on the refundable security deposit, never on advance rent, so a large deposit adds real money at the counter even though the tenant gets it back. In Punjab the security deposit is not added to the base.
Who pays the stamp duty on a rent agreement, the landlord or the tenant?
Neither the Punjab Rent Act, 1995 nor the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949 puts the duty on one side rather than the other. Our agreement splits it equally; change that clause if you agreed a different split, and write down what you agreed.
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.