State Rules · Maharashtra
Property Rules in Maharashtra
For Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Nagpur and the rest of the state — including the two rules that most flat owners are quietly on the wrong side of.
The short version
Maharashtra’s stamp duty is not one rate. It is three separate statutes stacked: a base rate under the Maharashtra Stamp Act (5% in a municipal corporation area, 4% in a gram panchayat area), plus 1% local body surcharge under section 149A of the Municipal Corporations Act, plus 1% transport surcharge under section 149B. That is where the familiar “6%” and “7%” come from — and no official document states them as a single number.
A woman buying alone gets 1% off the base rate, with no value ceiling — the most generous concession of any state on this site. The 15-year resale lock-in that originally came with it was removed in 2023.
Two things almost every flat owner should check: whether the leave and licence agreement is registered (the law makes that the landlord’s criminal liability), and what the society is charging as a transfer premium (it is capped at ₹25,000).
On this page
- What you actually pay, component by component
- The women’s concession
- Leave and licence: the rule landlords keep breaking
- The society transfer premium cap
- Deemed conveyance, and what changed on 31 December 2025
- MahaRERA
- Land records and the searches, with their guaranteed timelines
- What we could not confirm
- Sources
1. What you actually pay, component by component
Component one — the base rate
FactArticle 25 of Schedule I to the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958 sets duty on a conveyance by reference to where the property sits:
| Where the property is | Base duty |
|---|---|
| Within the limits of any Municipal Corporation, or a Cantonment area annexed to it, or any urban area not covered below — Article 25(b)(i) | 5% of true market value |
| Within the limits of any Municipal Council or Nagar Panchayat or Cantonment annexed to it; or any rural area within MMRDA limits; or an Influence Area as per the Annual Statement of Rates — Article 25(b)(ii) | 5% of market value |
| Within a Grampanchayat area, or an area not mentioned above — Article 25(b)(iii) | 4% of market value |
Note the second row: a rural area inside MMRDA limits is charged at the higher rate. Being outside a municipal boundary does not by itself get you the 4% rate.
Components two and three — the surcharges
FactSection 149A of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 increases the stamp duty on sale, gift and usufructuary mortgage of immovable property in the City “by a surcharge at the rate of one per cent… on the value of the property”. It was inserted in 2009 and its operative sub-sections were substituted with effect from 1 July 2017.
FactSection 149B adds a further one per cent surcharge on the same instruments where the City has one or more Vital Important Urban Transport Projects, from a date the State notifies. This is what is popularly called the metro cess.
SecondaryLaw-firm reporting places the section 149B notifications at 21 August 2015 and 17 December 2018, covering the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Nagpur, with the levy kept in abeyance from 1 April 2020 and therefore operative again from 1 April 2022. We could not retrieve the gazette notifications themselves, so we mark this as reported rather than verified.
Worked example — a ₹80 lakh flat in a municipal corporation area
| Man, or joint buyers | Woman buying alone | |
|---|---|---|
| Base duty, Article 25(b)(i) | 5% = ₹4,00,000 | 4% = ₹3,20,000 |
| Local body surcharge, s.149A | 1% = ₹80,000 | 1% = ₹80,000 |
| Transport surcharge, s.149B | 1% = ₹80,000 | 1% = ₹80,000 |
| Registration fee, 1% capped at ₹30,000 | ₹30,000 | ₹30,000 |
| Total | ₹5,90,000 | ₹5,10,000 |
Our arithmetic on the components cited above. We deliberately do not publish a single blended headline rate — see the note below.
Why we publish the components and not a headline number
Every property site quotes Maharashtra stamp duty as a single “6%” or “7%”. We could not find any official Government of Maharashtra or IGR document that adds the Article 25 rate to the two surcharges and states a combined percentage. The sum is an arithmetic consequence of three different statutes, each with its own scope and its own commencement history.
That matters because the scopes do not perfectly overlap. Sections 149A and 149B apply to property “situated in the City” as that term is used in the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 — and Greater Mumbai has historically been governed by a separate statute, the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888. Whether both surcharges stack identically in Mumbai and in, say, Pune is a real question, and we did not resolve it.
So: check the three components against your own property’s location, and get the figure confirmed by the sub-registrar before you budget. A quoted headline percentage is somebody’s arithmetic, not a published rate.
Registration fee
Fact₹100 where the value does not exceed ₹10,000; above that, ₹100 plus ₹10 for every ₹1,000 or part in excess — effectively 1%, subject to a maximum of ₹30,000. Where value is not expressed, a fixed fee applies: ₹1,000 in Greater Bombay, Thane, Navi Mumbai and Pune Corporation including Pune and Kirkee Cantonments; ₹750 in other Municipal Corporations and the Deolali, Dehu Road and Aurangabad Cantonments; ₹500 elsewhere.
Sources. Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958, Schedule I Article 25, consolidated text as on 8 April 2025, India Code (indiacode.nic.in); Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act, 1949, ss.149A and 149B (official consolidated text); Department of Registration and Stamps, Maharashtra, Registration Fee Table (igrmaharashtra.gov.in). Verified 8 September 2026.2. The women’s concession
FactA 1% reduction in the stamp duty otherwise chargeable under clause (b) of Article 25, on a conveyance or agreement to sell any type of residential unit — flat, bungalow, row house, independent house or tenement — where the purchaser or purchasers are women only. Issued under section 9(a) of the Maharashtra Stamp Act by Notification No. Mudrank-2021/UOR.12/CR.107/M-1 (Policy) dated 31 March 2021, effective 1 April 2021.
FactThere is no monetary ceiling. The notification imposes none. The only conditions are that the purchasers are women and the unit is residential. Compare that with Uttar Pradesh, where the same concession is capped at a ₹10,000 benefit, or Karnataka, where it does not exist.
SecondaryThe notification originally carried a condition barring resale to a male purchaser for 15 years, on pain of repaying the remitted duty with penalty. That condition was deleted by an amending order dated 26 May 2023. We have this from law-firm and newspaper reporting; we could not retrieve the amending order’s notification number, so treat the removal as reported rather than verified from the primary instrument.
InterpretationThe word doing the work is “sole”. Add a male co-purchaser — even a spouse taking a nominal share for a joint home loan — and on the face of the notification the concession is gone. On a ₹2 crore flat that is ₹2 lakh, and it is a decision made at the loan-structuring stage, usually without anyone pricing it.
Source. Government of Maharashtra, Revenue and Forest Department, Notification No. Mudrank-2021/UOR.12/CR.107/M-1 (Policy) dated 31 March 2021 (gazette text as reproduced). Verified 8 September 2026. The reproduction is not the gazette itself; we label it as such.3. Leave and licence: the rule landlords keep breaking
FactMaharashtra is unusual. Section 55(1) of the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999 provides that any agreement for leave and licence or letting entered into after the Act commenced “shall be in writing and shall be registered under the Registration Act, 1908” — notwithstanding anything in any other law. There is no eleven-month workaround here. Registration is mandatory.
The consequence almost no landlord knows
Read section 55(2) in full. The responsibility to register is the landlord’s. And then:
“in the absence of the written registered agreement, the contention of the tenant about the terms and conditions subject to which premises have been given to him by the landlord on leave and licence or have been let to him, shall prevail, unless proved otherwise.”
So if the agreement is unregistered and a dispute arises about rent, term, deposit or anything else, the tenant’s version is the starting point and the landlord carries the burden of displacing it. That is the exact opposite of what most landlords assume they are risking.
And section 55(3) adds a criminal sanction: a landlord who contravenes the section is, on conviction, punishable with imprisonment up to three months, or a fine up to ₹5,000, or both.
Source. Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999 (Mah. Act XVIII of 2000), s.55, gazette text via PRS Legislative Research, verified 8 September 2026.What registration costs
FactStamp duty on a leave and licence agreement for a term not exceeding sixty months is 0.25% of the total of: (i) the rent or licence fees payable, plus (ii) any non-refundable deposit, money advanced or premium, plus (iii) interest calculated at 10% a year on the refundable security deposit. Article 36A, Schedule I, Maharashtra Stamp Act.
That third limb is why a large refundable deposit raises the stamp duty even though it is coming back to the tenant. Registration is done online through the department’s e-registration and Leave and License services.
Deposits and notice
- Deposit: no statutory cap. Section 56 expressly makes it lawful for a landlord to receive a fine, premium, deposit or other consideration. Anyone quoting you a statutory deposit limit for Maharashtra is quoting the Model Tenancy Act, which this state has not adopted.
- Notice: the Act prescribes none. A licence ends on expiry of its term (s.24(1)), and the landlord applies to the Competent Authority for eviction. A licensee who holds over is liable to pay damages at double the licence fee (s.24(2)). A written licence agreement is conclusive evidence of the facts stated in it.
4. The society transfer premium cap
FactWhen a flat in a co-operative housing society changes hands, the society may charge a transfer premium — but it is capped by a Government Order under section 79A of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960, reproduced in the State’s own Co-operative Housing Societies Manual. The maximum rates:
| Area | Maximum transfer premium |
|---|---|
| Municipal Corporation and Development Authority areas | ₹25,000 |
| ‘A’ class municipalities | ₹20,000 |
| ‘B’ grade municipalities | ₹15,000 |
| ‘C’ grade municipalities | ₹10,000 |
| Gram Panchayat (rural) | ₹5,000 |
The Housing Manual restates it plainly: the premium shall be a maximum of ₹25,000, or the amount approved by the general body of the society, whichever is less — and it applies to all flat and plot owners of the society.
And the transfers where no premium is due at all
The same order provides that transfer premium is not necessary for a deceased member, for a mutual transfer between two members of the society, or for a transfer among family members.
The rest of the timetable is worth knowing too. A member must give the society 15 days’ notice before transferring; the committee must decide within 30 days and inform the member within 8 days of the decision; a decision on transfer of shares must be taken and communicated within three months; and where the Registrar forwards an application, the society must decide within 60 days.
This is the single most commonly ignored rule in Maharashtra residential practice. If a society is asking for a percentage of the sale price, or a figure in lakhs, it is asking for something the State has capped at ₹25,000.
Source. Government of Maharashtra, Co-operative Housing Societies Manual (Housing Manual 2012), para 3.10 and the annexed Government Order under s.79A of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960, published by the Commissioner for Co-operation, Maharashtra (sahakarayukta.maharashtra.gov.in), verified 8 September 2026.5. Deemed conveyance, and what changed on 31 December 2025
FactWhere a promoter fails to convey the land and building to the society within the prescribed period, section 11(3) of the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act, 1963 lets the members apply to a Competent Authority for a certificate that they are entitled to a unilateral deemed conveyance. The Competent Authority must act “within reasonable time and in any case not later than six months”, and the Sub-Registrar then registers the unilateral instrument as a deemed conveyance after summoning the promoter to show cause.
FactNew from 31 December 2025. The Maharashtra Ownership Flats (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2025 (Mah. LXV of 2025) inserted section 11A. Where the promoter of a RERA-registered project fails to execute a registered conveyance under section 17 of the RERA Act and rule 9 of the Maharashtra RERA Rules 2017, the allottee or association of allottees is now entitled to a unilateral deemed conveyance through the same procedure.
FactThe amendment also carries a validation clause that retrospectively validates deemed conveyances already executed and registered for RERA-registered projects, so that no proceeding lies on the ground that the pre-amendment Act did not provide for them.
InterpretationThis closes a genuine gap. Before 31 December 2025 there was an argument that the MOFA deemed-conveyance machinery did not reach projects registered under RERA — which is to say, every project sold after 2017. Societies in newer buildings that were told deemed conveyance was not available to them should look at this again.
Source. Maharashtra Ownership Flats (Regulation of the Promotion of Construction, Sale, Management and Transfer) Act, 1963, ss.5A, 11(3), 11(4), 11(5) and 11A, India Code consolidated text including the amendment table entry for Mah. 65 of 2025 (31-12-2025) (indiacode.nic.in), verified 8 September 2026.6. MahaRERA
MahaRERA is the most active real estate regulator in India, and its consumer machinery is documented in its own orders. The ones a buyer can actually use:
| Instrument | What it does |
|---|---|
| Circular No. 46/2023 | Introduces the MahaRERA Grading Matrix for projects — a regulator-published grade you can look up before you buy |
| Order No. 46C/2025 | Norms for the QR code and the font size of the MahaRERA registration number in advertisements — the QR code on a hoarding or brochure is the fastest verification route there is |
| Order No. 60/2024 | New proforma allotment letter and agreement for sale, covering parking, amenities and the three-bank-account discipline |
| Order No. 63/2024 | Requires inclusion of section 15A in the agreement for sale and sale deed |
The portals are maharera.maharashtra.gov.in and the registration system at maharerait.maharashtra.gov.in. The appellate body is the Maharashtra Real Estate Appellate Tribunal.
Source. MahaRERA orders and circulars listing (maharera.maharashtra.gov.in/order, /circular), verified 8 September 2026.7. Land records and the searches, with their guaranteed timelines
FactMaharashtra does not issue an encumbrance certificate. What it does instead is better in one respect: the searches are notified services under the Maharashtra Right to Public Services Act, 2015, with guaranteed turnaround times.
| Service | Guaranteed time | Officer |
|---|---|---|
| Search | 1 day | Concerned Sub-Registrar |
| Certified copy of Index II | 3 days | Concerned Sub-Registrar |
| Certified copy of the registered document | 5 days | Concerned Sub-Registrar |
| Filing of Notice of Intimation | 1 day | Concerned Sub-Registrar |
| Registration of a document (Type-1) | 1 day | Concerned Sub-Registrar |
| Valuation report for assessment of stamp duty | 3 days | Concerned Sub-Registrar |
| Certified copy of the 7/12 extract | 7 days | Revenue |
| Property Card, Mumbai Suburban District | 30 days | Town surveyor |
| City survey record change — undisputed | 30 days | Dy. Superintendent of Land Records / City Survey Officer |
| City survey record change — disputed | 1 year | Dy. Superintendent of Land Records / City Survey Officer |
Records themselves sit on Mahabhulekh (bhulekh.mahabhumi.gov.in), which serves four record types: the 7/12 extract, the 8A extract, the Property Card and K-Prat. Digitally signed copies are available as a paid service; mutation runs through e-Hakk.
The Ready Reckoner — Maharashtra’s circle rate — is the Annual Statement of Rates determined under the Bombay Stamp (Determination of True Market Value of Property) Rules, 1995. The department issues it by circular at the end of March for the financial year beginning 1 April.
Sources. Government of Maharashtra, Aaple Sarkar, services notified under the Maharashtra Right to Public Services Act, 2015 (aaplesarkar.mahaonline.gov.in); Mahabhulekh (bhulekh.mahabhumi.gov.in); IGR Maharashtra circulars (igrmaharashtra.gov.in). Verified 8 September 2026.8. What we could not confirm
Open questions on this page
- A combined headline stamp duty percentage for Mumbai, other urban areas or rural areas, stated by any official source. The components are verified; the sum is not published anywhere official.
- Whether sections 149A and 149B both apply within Greater Mumbai, given that Greater Mumbai has its own municipal statute. This is a real question and we did not resolve it.
- The gazette notification numbers for the section 149B transport surcharge. We have the dates from a law firm only.
- The notification number of the 26 May 2023 order deleting the women’s 15-year lock-in.
- The most recent Ready Reckoner revision. The department’s own circulars index carries nothing after 31 March 2023. Newspaper reports of a 3.9% increase for 2025-26 and of rates held unchanged for 2026-27 could not be corroborated against an official circular.
- The registration fee payable on a leave and licence agreement. The official fee table has no express entry for it, and the department’s calculator would not load.
- MahaRERA’s permanent-versus-interim status, its establishment date, and the issue dates of the circulars listed above. The authority’s About pages would not load.
- The MahaRERA Conciliation and Dispute Resolution Forum — widely referred to, but we could not source a MahaRERA circular or order number for it, so we have not stated one.
- The year of the society transfer premium Government Order. The order’s file number carries 2001 while the official reproduction prints 9 August 2009. The cap itself is unambiguous; the year is not.
- Self-redevelopment — no official document was obtainable at all. We publish no figure, incentive-FSI number or procedural step for it.
- Whether Maharashtra has moved on the Model Tenancy Act since July 2022. No official source either way.
Sources
- India Code, Ministry of Law and Justice — Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958 (as on 8 April 2025); Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act, 1963.
- Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 — official consolidated text, ss.149A and 149B.
- Department of Registration and Stamps, Maharashtra — igrmaharashtra.gov.in, Registration Fee Table, circulars.
- Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999 — gazette text via PRS Legislative Research.
- Co-operative Housing Societies Manual (Housing Manual 2012) — Commissioner for Co-operation, Maharashtra.
- MahaRERA — orders, circulars.
- Government of Maharashtra, Aaple Sarkar — services notified under the Right to Public Services Act, 2015.
- Women’s stamp duty concession notification, 31 March 2021 — gazette text as reproduced.
How this page is sourced. Every figure on this page carries the document it came from and the date it was checked. Where a number could not be traced to an official document, the page says so in those words rather than repeating what other sites say. Nothing here is taken from a property portal, listing site or aggregator.
This is a personal site written by Mithun Srivastava. The views are his own. It uses no employer data of any kind and is not an official communication of any company. It is educational material, not legal, tax or financial advice — property decisions carry real financial and legal risk, rules change without notice, and you must verify anything here against the current official source and your own professional advisers before acting on it.