Rent Agreement Stamp Duty in Bihar

For a typical residential agreement up to 11 months, Bihar charges ~₹100-500 (1% of annual rent + deposit, or ₹500 — whichever is less). Duty is computed on yearly rent plus deposit, but for a typical 11-month residential agreement it works out to ₹100-500, and ₹100 non-judicial stamp paper is the market norm. Notarisation is common; registration optional at this duration.

Under Section 17 of the Registration Act, a lease of immovable property for 12 months or longer MUST be registered with the sub-registrar — which costs time, registration fees, and higher stamp duty. An 11-month agreement stays below that threshold, so it can be executed on stamp paper without mandatory registration. That's the whole reason 11 months became India's default tenancy term.

Not mandatory up to 11 months; mandatory for any lease exceeding 11 months under the Registration Act, 1908.

Bihar has NO state e-stamping as of 2026 — physical non-judicial stamp paper remains the norm. Third-party platforms (eSahayak, eDrafter) prepare agreements online and courier stamped copies; there is no official state portal.

An unstamped or under-stamped agreement is not admissible as evidence in court until the deficit duty plus a penalty (up to 10× the deficit in most states) is paid. Police verification, HRA claims, address proof, and eviction proceedings can all stumble on an unstamped agreement — the duty is small, so pay it upfront.

The law doesn't fix this; it's whatever the agreement says. In practice the tenant usually bears the stamp duty and registration costs in most Indian cities, though splitting 50:50 is common in some markets. Put the split in writing in the agreement itself.