Bihar Plans to Cut Rent Agreement Registration Fees by Up to 50%

Patna: Registering rent agreements and lease deeds in Bihar may soon become much cheaper. In a major relief for tenants and property owners, the Bihar government is preparing to reduce the registration fees for rent agreements and registered leases by up to 50 percent.

The initiative is being taken by the Prohibition, Excise and Registration Department, which has also formed a special committee to finalize the proposal and recommend the new fee structure.

Why the Fee Reduction is Being Planned

According to official sources, the main objective behind the move is to encourage more people to register rent agreements legally, instead of relying on notarized documents which often lack legal validity in courts.

Currently, despite a large number of tenants in the state, very few rent agreements are officially registered every year.

Patna Has Over 10 Lakh Tenants

Department records show that Patna has around 3.10 lakh registered houses paying holding tax. As per municipal estimates, more than 10 lakh tenants (both residential and commercial) live in the city.

However, even though rent agreements should legally be registered, only around 5,000 agreements are registered annually in Bihar. The department now aims to increase this number significantly, possibly reaching lakhs in the coming years.

It is also noted that among Bihar’s 114 registration offices, rent agreement registration is mainly common only in Patna and Danapur, while in other districts it remains extremely low.

Notary Rent Agreements Have No Legal Standing

Legal experts have pointed out that notarized rent agreements are not considered fully valid documents in case of disputes.

Patna Court advocate Anil Kumar Udyogi stated that the Notary Act does not provide legal provisions for rent or lease agreements. Therefore, notarized agreements are not considered strong evidence in court proceedings.

Retired DIG of the Registration Department, Shekhar Neelam, also highlighted that even rent agreements of less than one year require registration under the Registration Act, otherwise they may be treated as invalid.

How Much Cheaper Will It Become?

The proposed fee cut could reduce the overall cost of rent agreement registration significantly.

For example, if the total rent amount for a 10-year period is Rs 10 lakh, the current charges include:

• Stamp Duty: Rs 5,000
• Registration Fee: Rs 20,000
• Total Cost: Rs 25,000

After the proposed changes:

• Stamp duty will remain the same at Rs 5,000
• Registration fee may reduce to Rs 10,000
• Total cost will become Rs 15,000

This means people will save around Rs 10,000, making registration far more affordable.

Government’s Goal

By lowering the fees, the Bihar government hopes to increase legal registration of rental agreements and ensure better legal security for both landlords and tenants.

The final decision is expected after the special committee submits its report.