R & D Law Chambers LLP
Practice is led by Ravish Bhatt | Advocate, Bar Council of Gujarat (G/504/2008) | Dual-qualified lawyer (India and England and Wales) | Solicitor of England and Wales (non-practising), SRA Registration No. 492 477 | ADIT, Chartered Institute of Taxation, London
Published: 5 November 2026 | Last reviewed: 5 November 2026
Scope and instrument. This page is written against the Gujarat Rent Bill, 2026 (Gujarat Bill No. 22 of 2026), published in the Gujarat Government Gazette on 31 August 2026, as passed by the Gujarat Legislative Assembly. The Bill has not received the assent of the Governor and is not in force. Section references are to the Bill as gazetted and may change if it is re-introduced in amended form. The position is stated as at 5 November 2026.
Commercial landlords and tenants in Gujarat have read the Gujarat Rent Bill, 2026 as a residential measure. It is not. Its definition of premises covers commercial use and excludes only industrial use, and its sharpest provision is not the deposit cap but section 4(6): a tenancy that is not reported to a Rent Authority earns no relief under the Act, while section 40(1) shuts the civil court.
- Does the Gujarat Rent Bill, 2026 apply to commercial premises?
Yes, on its face. Section 2(d) defines premises as a building let on rent “for the purpose of residential or commercial use” under the Gujarat Comprehensive General Development Control Regulations, 2017, carving out only premises for industrial use. Nothing in the Bill confines it to dwellings, and the exemptions in section 3 are by owner, not by use.
Section 2(d) of the Bill defines “premises” as any building or part of a building which is, or is intended to be, let on rent “for the purpose of residential or commercial use as per the Gujarat Comprehensive General Development Control Regulation (CGDCR), 2017 including 2.113(3)(4)(9)(12)(14), except premises for industrial use as per CGDCR, 2017 2.113(7)”, together with any appurtenant garden, garage, parking, vacant land or outhouse and any fitting for the more beneficial enjoyment of the building.
Section 2(n) defines a tenant as a person, “whether called lessee or by any other name”, by whom rent is payable under a tenancy agreement, including a sub-tenant and a person continuing in possession after termination, but excluding a person against whom an eviction order or decree has been made. A commercial lessee is squarely within that definition.
The exemptions in section 3(1) turn on the owner rather than the use: premises owned or promoted by government, a local authority, a government undertaking or a Cantonment Board; premises let by a company, university or organisation to its employees as part of a service contract; premises owned by notified religious or charitable institutions; and premises of a registered Waqf or a trust registered under the Gujarat Public Trusts Act, 1950. Section 3(2) then allows the parties to such premises to opt in by informing the Rent Authority at the time of informing the tenancy agreement under section 4. There is no exemption for shops, offices or showrooms.
One point is open on the face of the Bill. Section 2(n) defines a tenant by reference to rent payable under a tenancy agreement. Whether a licensee paying a licence fee under a leave and licence arrangement falls within that definition is not addressed, and the Bill does not define “tenancy agreement”. That question should be settled on the particular document rather than assumed either way.
- Is the Bill in force, and what is its present status?
No. Section 1(3) defers commencement to a date the State Government appoints by notification. The Bill was gazetted on 31 August 2026 and passed by the Legislative Assembly, but has not received the assent of the Governor. As at 5 November 2026 no assent has been reported.
Section 1(3) provides that the Act “shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette appoint”. Nothing in the Bill operates before that notification.
The sequence so far. The Bill was published in the Gujarat Government Gazette on 31 August 2026, the Statement of Objects and Reasons being dated 25 August 2026, and was passed by the Legislative Assembly. Bar associations across Gujarat abstained from work in early October 2026. On 5 October 2026 the Advocate General told the Gujarat High Court that an assurance had been given that the Bill would not be signed by the Governor. The following day he said, in remarks to a news agency, that the government was favourably considering the concerns of the bar, that it could consider bringing back the earlier framework with improvements, and that his statement in court should not be read as a formal government commitment that the Governor would not sign. A committee drawn from the Bar Council of Gujarat, the Ahmedabad Bar Association and the Ahmedabad Small Causes Court Bar Association was proposed, to discuss the provisions with the Law Secretary. No assent has been reported since.
For a commercial party the practical consequence is that a lease being negotiated now is being negotiated against a statute that may arrive, may arrive amended, or may not arrive at all. The drafting answer is to make the deposit and the reporting obligations work in either state rather than to bet on one outcome.
- What would it change for a commercial landlord?
Three things bite. The security deposit could not exceed three months’ rent and would have to be refunded within one month of vacant possession. Eviction would lie only on the eight grounds in section 21(2). A tenant holding over would be liable to double the monthly rent under section 23.
- Security deposit. Section 11(1) provides that the deposit “shall not exceed three months’ rent”. Section 11(2) requires refund within one month of taking over vacant possession, after deduction of any liability of the tenant. Six month and twelve month deposits are common in commercial leases in Ahmedabad and would not survive.
- Eviction. Section 21(1) bars eviction during the tenancy except under section 21(2) or section 22. The eight grounds in section 21(2) include refusal to pay the rent payable under section 8, arrears for two consecutive months not cleared within one month of a demand notice served in the manner provided by section 106(4) of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, parting with possession without written consent, continued misuse after notice, the landlord’s need to repair or rebuild, a change of land use permitted by the competent authority, a contracted sale following a notice to vacate, and structural change without written consent.
- Timelines. Section 35(7) requires most eviction applications to be decided within ninety days of filing, and section 35(8) requires thirty days for applications on the parting-with-possession and misuse grounds. Section 35(6) caps adjournments at three per party.
- Holding over. Section 23 provides that a tenant who fails to vacate on expiry or termination “shall be liable to pay the landlord double the monthly rent”.
- Rent revision. Section 9(1) leaves revision to the terms of the tenancy agreement, and section 10 allows either party to apply to the Rent Authority to determine the revised rent where there is a dispute. The escalation clause therefore still does the work, but it is no longer the last word.
- What is the reporting obligation, and what happens if a tenancy is not reported?
Section 4(1) requires a written agreement, informed to the Rent Authority by landlord and tenant jointly within two months. Section 4(6) makes that information conclusive proof, and provides that in its absence neither party “shall be entitled to any relief under the provisions of this Act”.
Section 4(1) provides that, after commencement, no person shall let or take on rent any premises “except by an agreement in writing, which shall be informed to the Rent Authority by the landlord and tenant jointly, in the form specified in the First Schedule within a period of two months from the date of tenancy agreement”. Section 4(2) gives a fallback: where they fail to inform jointly, each must inform separately within one month of the expiry of that period. Section 4(4) requires the Rent Authority to issue a unique identification number and to upload the details within seven working days.
Section 4(6) is the provision to draft around. The information given “shall be conclusive proof of the facts relating to tenancy and matters connected therewith, and in the absence of any statement of information, the landlord and the tenant shall not be entitled to any relief under the provisions of this Act”.
Read with section 40(1), that is a serious place to be. A landlord who has not reported the tenancy could not obtain an eviction order under section 21, because that is relief under the Act, and the civil court would be barred in so far as the proceeding relates to the provisions of the Act. The same bar would operate against a tenant seeking relief on essential supplies or on repairs.
The First Schedule form calls for the PAN and Aadhaar of the landlord, the tenant and any property manager, together with the rent, the deposit, the other charges and the duration, and requires the tenancy agreement itself to be annexed. A commercial lease signed today should carry a covenant by both parties to join in that information within the statutory period if and when the Act is notified, with an indemnity for the party that is ready and willing.
- Which forum would decide a commercial rent dispute, and how does that compare with today?
A Rent Authority at Deputy Collector level, a Rent Court at Additional Collector level, and a Rent Tribunal manned by a District Judge. Section 40(1) would bar the civil court in so far as a proceeding relates to the Act. That shift from judicial to revenue adjudication is what the Gujarat bar objected to.
| Stage | Under the Bill | Today, pending commencement |
| First instance | Rent Authority, an officer not below Deputy Collector or Assistant Municipal Commissioner (section 30), for proceedings under sections 4, 9, 10, 14, 15, 19 and 20 | Civil court or the court exercising jurisdiction under the Gujarat Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947, which section 46(1) would repeal |
| Eviction and the main disputes | Rent Court, an officer not below Additional Collector or Deputy Municipal Commissioner (section 33), with civil court powers under section 36 | Civil court, on the ordinary civil procedure |
| Appeal | Rent Tribunal, a District Judge or Additional District Judge appointed in consultation with the High Court (section 34); appeal within thirty days and disposal within sixty (section 37) | The ordinary appellate hierarchy |
| Civil court | Barred by section 40(1) in so far as the proceeding relates to the provisions of the Act; section 40(2) keeps title and ownership outside the Rent Court | Open |
| Court fees | Gujarat Court-Fees Act, 2004 applies; an application for recovery of possession is deemed a suit between landlord and tenant (section 41) | As at present |
Section 40(2) is worth reading twice. It limits the Rent Court to “tenancy agreement submitted to it as specified in the First Schedule” and provides that its jurisdiction shall not extend to the question of title or ownership of the premises. A commercial dispute that turns on whether the lessor had title, or on the effect of a transfer of the reversion, would therefore sit outside the Rent Court while the civil court is barred on everything that relates to the Act. How those two limits interact is untested and is the kind of question a commercial lease should be drafted to avoid reaching.
These are the points a commercial landlord or tenant in Gujarat needs worked through on the facts of the transaction and the particular wording proposed, at the drafting stage rather than after a dispute has started. The companion page on drafting a commercial lease in Gujarat takes the clause side of the same problem, including the term, the lock-in and the stamp duty the term selects.
How R & D Law Chambers Works on These Matters
The practice advises landlords and tenants on commercial leases and leave and licence arrangements in Gujarat, including the effect of the Gujarat Rent Bill, 2026 on terms being negotiated now, the deposit and eviction provisions, the reporting obligation under section 4 and the forum that would decide a dispute. Where a dispute has already arisen, it advises on the forum and on the remedies available on the instrument as executed.
Related reading and services:
- Drafting a commercial lease in Gujarat: https://rdlawchambers.com/commercial-lease-drafting-gujarat-term-lock-in-stamp-duty/
- Contract drafting, review and management: https://rdlawchambers.com/contract-drafting/
- Real estate and leisure: https://rdlawchambers.com/real-estate-and-leisure/
Disclaimer. This page is general information on the law of Gujarat and India as at 5 November 2026. It is not legal advice and no lawyer and client relationship arises from reading it. The Gujarat Rent Bill, 2026 is not in force and its provisions may change before it is.