e-StampNotary
Licence or tenancy — the substance governs, not the label
Landlords generally prefer a leave and licence because no interest in the property passes and termination is simpler. That advantage is real, but it is not obtained by writing "licence" at the top of a tenancy. Courts look at what the document actually does: whether the occupier has exclusive possession, whether the owner retains genuine control and access, how the payment is characterised, and how the arrangement operates in practice.
An agreement that gives exclusive possession for a term at a rent, and calls itself a licence, is generally treated as what it is. Drafting it properly means deciding at the outset which one you actually want, and then being consistent all the way through.
If the occupier genuinely needs exclusive, undisturbed possession — a family taking a flat, a business taking a shop — a tenancy is the honest instrument, and an eleven-month term keeps it out of compulsory registration anyway. A licence fits shared premises, a defined desk or area, a kiosk, a terrace, a hoarding site, or paying-guest accommodation where the owner retains real control.
The one-year line decides everything
Section 17(1)(d) of the Registration Act, 1908 makes registration compulsory for a lease of immovable property from year to year, for any term exceeding one year, or reserving a yearly rent. Section 18(c) puts a term not exceeding one year in the optional list. That single distinction is the entire reason the eleven-month agreement became standard practice in Gujarat — not custom, not a loophole, but statute.
An agreement can be caught even where the term is under a year, if the rent is reserved annually. A draft that says "annual rent of ₹1,20,000 payable in monthly instalments" may have created a lease reserving a yearly rent and walked into section 17(1)(d) despite an eleven-month term. Write "monthly rent of ₹10,000". Downloaded templates get this wrong constantly.
If the document should have been registered and was not, section 49 bars it from being received as evidence of the transaction it records. Notarisation does not cure that. Notarised vs registered, in full →
What it should contain
- The precise area licensed, and what is shared
- The licence fee and deposit, and how the deposit comes back
- The owner's retained rights of entry and control — this clause is what makes it a licence
- Permitted use, and who else may be present
- Term, renewal, and how either side ends it
- What the licensee may install, and what happens to it at the end
We do not publish duty figures on this website. The Gujarat Stamp Act, 1958 was amended in 2025 and several articles were restructured; a rate printed on a web page goes stale and costs somebody money. As a Government authorised e-Stamping centre we confirm the duty currently prescribed for your specific document and issue the e-stamp against it, at face value. The notarial fee is separate and capped by law — ₹35 to attest execution, ₹35 to administer an oath or take an affidavit, under Rule 10(1) of the Notaries Rules, 1956. The full fee table →
Drafted here, in Gujarati or English
Drafted by an advocate of 35+ years rather than filled into a downloaded template, e-stamped at a Government authorised centre, and notarised in the same visit. If the parties read Gujarati, the document is drafted in Gujarati — not translated out of an English form, because legal Gujarati has its own settled vocabulary and a literal translation frequently means something looser.
What to bring
- Photo ID for both parties
- Ownership proof for the premises
- A description of exactly which area is being licensed and what is shared
- Agreed fee, deposit and term
- What the occupier will use the space for