Rent Agreement Stamp Duty in Meghalaya

For a typical residential agreement up to 11 months, Meghalaya charges Nominal stamp paper (~₹81, single-source). Meghalaya-specific data is extremely thin: a single platform lists ~₹81 stamp + ₹8 for an under-11-month agreement with a ₹26 registration fee. The state follows the Indian Stamp Act (Meghalaya Amendment 1993), but these amounts are uncorroborated — verify with the district Sub-Registrar, especially in Sixth Schedule areas where land dealings carry extra restrictions.

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 required for 11-month agreements; mandatory for leases of 12 months+.

Meghalaya is NOT in SHCIL e-stamping lists — physical stamp paper prevails; online drafting exists but stamping is offline.

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.