Big gift for tenants and landlords: UP Cabinet decision, stamp duty on rent agreements up to 10 years reduced by up to 90%, see new rates

Ground Report (Special Correspondent, Lucknow): The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has provided significant relief to landlords and tenants renting out their homes and shops in the state. The cabinet meeting decided to significantly rationalize and reduce the stamp duty and registration fee structure for rental agreements (lease deeds) with terms of up to 10 years.The new rules will reduce the cost of agreement registration by up to 90%. The main objective is to promote legal and registered rental agreements instead of notarized documents.

New Slabs and Rates for Rent Agreement (Stamp Duty + Registration Fees) As per the new slabs issued by the government, now fixed charges have been fixed based on the annual rent (same rates will be applicable for both stamp duty and registration fees):

(Note: For annual rent exceeding ₹10 lakh, the same concessional rates will apply up to the first ₹10 lakh and for any amount beyond that, the old standard rates will apply. This concession will not apply to toll tax and mining lease.)

How will cheaper registration directly benefit you? Previously, due to high registration rates, most people simply signed an 11-month, unregistered agreement on ₹100 notarized stamp paper. This agreement was legally weak, and in case of a dispute, they had to go to civil court or the police. Now for example, for a 1-year agreement with an annual rent of up to ₹2 lakh, the total registration cost (₹1,000 stamp + ₹1,000 registration) will be only ₹2,000, which earlier used to cost around ₹10,000. This reduction will enable effective implementation of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Premises Tenancy Regulation Act, 2021 at the ground level.