Two things happened to Karnataka rental agreements in the last eighteen months, and between them they have quietly changed what a valid tenancy document looks like.
Physical stamp paper stopped being accepted in July 2025. Registration became a 60-day obligation with a penalty attached. [VERIFY]
Neither is difficult. Both are routinely skipped, usually because nobody involved knows. This is the version to bookmark.
What is actually required
- The agreement must be digitally stamped, through SHCIL or the Kaveri portal. Physical stamp paper is no longer valid. [VERIFY]
- It must be registered via Kaveri within 60 days, with a ₹5,000 penalty for missing the window. [VERIFY]
- Registration is mandatory for leases longer than eleven months. For the standard eleven-month agreement it is not strictly required by statute, but societies and police verification increasingly expect it anyway. [VERIFY]
That last line is where most of the confusion sits. The eleven-month format exists specifically to sit below the registration threshold, and plenty of people still treat it as a reason not to register. That logic held until buildings started asking for a registered copy at move-in. What the Act changed, in full.
A notarised agreement is a document. A registered one is evidence.
What it costs
For a standard eleven-month agreement, a flat e-stamp charge. Longer leases are calculated on annual rent plus deposit. [VERIFY]
Payable on the portal, modest relative to the deposit it is protecting. [VERIFY]
Optional. Plenty of vendors will do the whole thing for you, and for most people that is a sensible trade.
The full cost of doing this properly is small. Smaller than one month’s maintenance on most of the homes we work with, and a rounding error against the deposit it exists to protect.
How to do it
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01
Agree the text first
Rent, deposit, term, notice, lock-in, who pays for what, the inventory as an annexure. Registration records a document; it does not improve one. Everything you want enforceable has to be in the text before it goes anywhere near the portal.
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02
Collect what you’ll need
Both parties’ Aadhaar and PAN. Property details. The owner’s proof of ownership or authority to let. Passport photographs. Witness details where required. Almost every delay at this stage is a missing document rather than a difficult one. [VERIFY]
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03
Get the e-stamp
Through SHCIL or Kaveri. Physical stamp paper is not an option. The duty is calculated on the term and the amounts. [VERIFY]
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04
Create the application on Kaveri
kaveri2.karnataka.gov.in. Enter the parties, the property and the document, then upload the agreement.
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05
Aadhaar authentication and e-signing
Both parties authenticate. This is the step that usually needs both people available at roughly the same time, so it is worth agreeing a slot rather than discovering the delay. [VERIFY]
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06
Pay and submit
Stamp duty and registration fee, on the portal.
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07
Download the registered copy
Usually the same day, at most 48 hours. Save the PDF somewhere you will find it in two years, not only in a WhatsApp thread. [VERIFY]
Who pays, and other things worth settling first
There is no rule. Convention in Bengaluru puts it on the tenant more often than not, but it is one of the easiest things to split and one of the least contested asks in a negotiation.
- Who pays the stamp duty and the registration fee.
- Who files it: you, the owner, or a vendor.
- The deadline, in the calendar, counted from signing.
- Where the registered copy lives, and that both parties have one.
It belongs with the rest of what you settle before signing rather than in a conversation afterwards. The questions worth asking before you sign.
Why it is worth the afternoon
Registration feels like administration until the moment it isn’t.
- A deposit that hasn’t come back. The District Rent Authority acts on the document, and a registered one carries more weight. [VERIFY]
- A society asking for proof before handing over keys.
- Police verification, which increasingly expects a registered copy. [VERIFY]
- A dispute about what was agreed. Registration fixes the text and the date beyond argument.
- Anything requiring address proof, where a registered agreement is accepted and a notarised one often isn’t.
None of those are likely in any given tenancy. Across two years and a deposit of a few lakh, one of them is likely enough. What can be deducted from your deposit.
Fees get revised and portals change. This describes the process as of the date above, and we keep it current because we file these regularly. If something on Kaveri has moved since, tell us and we’ll update it.
