Social media is flooded with posts about the “New Rent Rules, 2026”, with many accounts across X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn claiming that India has updated its tenancy laws. The claims have even made it to some news portals.
According to these posts and news reports, various changes have been made to the “rent rules” in March ranging from revision of rent, security deposit cap, eviction rules, etc.
While the rules look balanced at a glance, the reality is not exactly what it seems.
What the “New Rent Rules” say
Many social media accounts and some news reports claim that significant changes have been made to the rent rules of the country.
They claim that from now on, it will be mandatory to have digital tenancy registration. That is, all rent agreements must be digitally stamped and registered online within 60 days of signing.
The social media posts also claim that there will be a cap on the amount of security deposit that the owner can ask for. For residential properties, the security amount will be up to two times the monthly rent. While for commercial properties, the security amount will be up to six times the monthly rent.
It is also being said that landlords will be allowed to revise the rent only after 12 months and would be required to give a prior 90 days’ notice to the tenant before the revision.
For the benefit of landlords, the dispute resolution process will be fast tracked. Cases involving non-payment of rent, property damage or breach of tenancy agreement must be decided by Rent Courts or Tribunals within 60 days.
Are these rules actually applicable?
At first glance, all the sweeping claims seem harmless. Moreover, they seem to be taken in the right direction. However, the reality is more nuanced.
While all the above mentioned claims are correct, the reality is that these are just guidelines by the Centre through the Model Tenancy Act from 2021.
The guidelines were given to the states to formulate their tenancy laws. It is the states’ discretion to incorporate those suggestions or not into their tenancy laws.
“Land and colonization are state subjects. Tenancies in states/Union Territories are governed by their respective rental laws. States and UTs have been advised to adopt MTA (Model Tenancy Act) by way of either enacting fresh legislation or amending their existing rental laws suitably on lines of MTA in their respective jurisdictions,” Kaushal Kishore, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, had said in a Lok Sabha reply in December 2021.
Hence, before acting upon claims on social media, it is important to check the tenancy laws of your state.
According to a Rajya Sabha reply in August last year, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep have adopted their tenancy acts as per the Model Tenancy Act.
“Further, states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh have already notified tenancy acts based on earlier draft of MTA and they have been requested to align their tenancy laws with the latest version of MTA,” it said.
