When Is a Lease Required to Be Registered: Frequently Asked Questions in Mumbai

For someone based in Mumbai, common questions on when is a lease required to be registered, explained in plain terms, for someone in Mumbai.

Before the frequently asked questions

Under s.17(1)(d) of the Registration Act 1908, a lease from year to year, for a term exceeding one year, or reserving a yearly rent, must be registered.

As a general rule, an unregistered lease that should have been registered generally cannot be used as evidence of its own terms in a dispute, which is why many 11-month leave-and-licence agreements are used instead of a registered lease.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to register a rental agreement?

If the lease is for more than one year, or is from year to year, or reserves a yearly rent, s.17(1)(d) of the Registration Act requires registration. Shorter leave-and-licence agreements are often used specifically to avoid this requirement.

Relevant forums in Mumbai

• The High Court with jurisdiction is the Bombay High Court.
• Matters at the district level are generally handled at the Mumbai City Civil Court, or the Court of Small Causes for tenancy matters.
• The applicable rent law is the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999.
• Registration is handled through IGR Maharashtra.

For a fuller explanation, see Is There a National Rent Law in India? The Model Tenancy Act, Explained and The Delhi Rent Control Act's ₹3,500 Exclusion: What It Means.

Where this applies to a live matter, it is usually worth discussing it in a consultation before acting.

The content above explains how the law generally works; it is not legal advice and should not be treated as a substitute for advice on your particular facts.