Leave & License Agreements
Almost every residential letting in Maharashtra is documented as a leave and license agreement rather than a lease. Most parties sign one on the assumption that it is a standard form and that the standard form protects them. What actually decides a dispute is the term the parties did not think about when they signed.
A dedicated in-house department handles leave and license matters end to end — drafting the agreement to the arrangement the parties have actually made, computing the duty and fee, and completing registration.
When you need this service
- You are letting a flat, shop, office, factory unit or commercial premises
- You are taking premises on licence and want the terms examined before you sign
- An existing agreement is expiring and is being renewed on changed terms
- A deposit, a lock-in or an exit date is in dispute and the document is ambiguous
- You are a landlord who has been letting without a registered agreement
What we handle
Drafting to the actual arrangement
The document is drawn to the arrangement the parties have made rather than adapted from a template. The label on a document does not settle its legal character — a document drafted as a licence while conferring what is in substance exclusive possession for a term does not automatically remain a licence. The safer approach is to make the arrangement genuinely a licence in its terms and in its operation.
Stamp duty computation — Article 36A
Under Article 36A of the Schedule to the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958, for a leave and license agreement for a term not exceeding sixty months, duty is charged at 0.25% of a statutory total: the licence fees or rent payable, plus any non-refundable deposit, advance or premium, plus interest calculated at 10% per annum on the refundable security deposit or refundable advance.
Registration
Registration under the Registration Act, 1908 as Section 55 of the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999 requires. Maharashtra operates an official e-registration system for leave and license agreements, currently in its Leave and License 2.0 form, run by the Department of Registration and Stamps, with parties and witnesses authenticated by Aadhaar-based biometric verification. We complete registration through the appropriate route for your matter.
The clauses that decide disputes
Term and commencement; the licence fee, its due date and any escalation stated as a formula with a trigger date; the security deposit, and precisely what may be deducted from it and by when it is returned; lock-in and what is payable on early exit; the notice each side must give; who pays maintenance, utilities, non-occupancy charges, property tax and repairs; and the condition in which the premises are handed over and to be returned.
Inventory and condition record
An inventory and a condition record annexed to the agreement, so that the state of the premises at handover is documented rather than recalled. Deposit disputes are the single most common source of friction at the end of a licence, and they are usually arguments about condition.
Society intimation and building permissions
Documentation of the intimation to the society and any permission the building requires before an occupant moves in.
How the matter proceeds
Terms captured
Parties, premises, term, licence fee and escalation, deposit, lock-in, notice, outgoings and handover condition.
Agreement drafted
Drawn to those terms, with the inventory and condition record annexed where the premises are furnished.
Duty and fee computed
Computed on the Article 36A basis from the licence period, the refundable deposit, any non-refundable amount, whether the rent is fixed or rises during the term, and whether the property is urban or rural.
Payment
Stamp duty, registration fee and the document handling charge are paid.
Registration
Completed through the official e-registration system with biometric authentication, or at the Government registration office having jurisdiction where that is the appropriate route.
Registered copy
The registered agreement is delivered to both parties.
Important
The department publishes an official calculator for leave and license agreements. We use it for your actual agreement before execution rather than relying on a worked example.
What we need to draw the agreement
A leave and license matter starts from the agreed terms rather than from a standard form. The clauses that govern the arrangement are settled in the draft, and the same terms also affect the duty calculation. To begin, we ordinarily need:
- Who the parties are, and the premises — the flat, shop, office or unit, with its address.
- The licence period, and the date from which it is to commence.
- The licence fee and any escalation during the term, the refundable security deposit, and any non-refundable deposit, advance or premium. These are among the terms relevant to the Article 36A duty computation.
- Any lock-in, the notice each side is to give, who bears maintenance, utilities and other outgoings, and the condition in which the premises are handed over and are to be returned.
- Identity particulars of both parties, proof of the property and of the licensor's title to it, photographs, and any society NOC or intimation where applicable.
Please note: This reflects what a matter usually needs rather than a fixed statutory list. The exact requirement depends on the premises, the parties and the registration route, and we confirm it for the particular agreement. Where the premises are furnished, an inventory and condition record may also be settled alongside the terms.
What landlords most often underestimate
Writing and registration are not optional
Section 55 of the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999 requires that an agreement for leave and license, or for letting of premises, entered into after the commencement of that Act shall be in writing and shall be registered under the Registration Act, 1908. This is a requirement, not a matter of preference.
The statutory consequence is one-sided
Section 55 places responsibility for registration on the landlord and attaches a penal consequence to contravention. Where there is no written registered agreement, it provides that the contention of the tenant or licensee as to the terms on which the premises were given shall prevail, unless proved otherwise. The absence of registration does not leave both sides equally unable to prove the terms.
A large refundable deposit raises the duty
A refundable deposit is not itself added to the base — only a notional 10% per annum interest on it is. That is why a modest rent combined with a large refundable deposit can produce a duty figure well above what the rent alone would suggest. This is the component parties most often miss.
The Article 36A basis has limits
It is the computation basis for agreements of a term not exceeding sixty months. Longer arrangements fall to be treated differently and should not be forced into this formula. The Schedule and the notifications under it are also amended from time to time.
Questions we are asked about this service
Because of the deposit. Under Article 36A of the Schedule to the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958, for an agreement of a term not exceeding sixty months duty is charged at 0.25% of a statutory total: the licence fees or rent payable, plus any non-refundable deposit, advance or premium, plus interest calculated at 10% per annum on the refundable security deposit or refundable advance. The refundable deposit is not itself added to the base — only that notional interest on it is — which is why a modest rent combined with a large refundable deposit produces a figure well above what the rent alone would suggest. It is the component parties most often miss.
For registration handled at a Government registration office, yes: the executants attend physically, their photograph and biometrics are captured at the office, and identity is verified through Aadhaar. Leave and license agreements are handled through the Department of Registration and Stamps’ official e-registration system, currently in its Leave and License 2.0 form, where parties and witnesses are authenticated by Aadhaar-based biometric verification. Identity verification is operated by the Government system, so the practice at the counter is theirs rather than ours; we confirm the current position for the office where your document will be presented.
For registered matters we provide the registered set together with a photocopy. The registered set includes the applicable stamp duty challan or receipt, the registration receipt, and Index II — the official record of the registered document’s particulars, and what a purchaser, a lender or an authority will later examine. A scanned PDF can be provided on request. The documents are collected from our Dombivli Head Office. For a leave and license agreement, the registered agreement is provided to both parties. We do not publish a completion date: the registration office’s own processing is not within our control.
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