Rent Agreement Stamp Duty in Telangana

For a typical residential agreement up to 11 months, Telangana charges 0.4% of (total rent for the term + deposit). Leases under 1 year pay 0.4% of the aggregate rent for the period plus any advance — ₹18,000/month for 11 months with a ₹50,000 deposit owes about ₹992.

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.

Mandatory for leases of 12 months or more; optional below — the 11-month agreement is standard practice.

E-stamping/franking available (Telangana moved off physical stamp paper); IGRS portal with slot booking; private platforms offer e-stamped agreements with eSign.

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.