Gift Deed of Property in Hyderabad and Telangana: Stamp Duty, Registration and Cancellation

This guide is for families in Hyderabad and Telangana who want to gift a flat, house or plot to a child, spouse or relative, and for parents who have already gifted a property and now ask whether it can be taken back. It explains what makes a gift of immovable property valid, why it must be registered, the stamp duty, transfer duty and registration fee published by the Telangana Registration and Stamps Department, when the law allows a gift to be revoked, the Senior Citizens Act route for parents, how Muslim law treats an oral gift (hiba), and what happens to the GHMC and land records afterwards.

What makes a gift valid · Registration · Possession and life interest · Stamp duty and fees · Can a gift be cancelled? · Parents and the Senior Citizens Act · Muslim families: hiba · Minors · After registration · Income tax · Checklist

What makes a gift valid

• The definition: “‘Gift’ is the transfer of certain existing moveable or immoveable property made voluntarily and without consideration, by one person, called the donor, to another, called the donee, and accepted by or on behalf of the donee” (Transfer of Property Act, 1882, section 122).
• Acceptance in the donor’s lifetime: the acceptance “must be made during the lifetime of the donor”, and “If the donee dies before acceptance, the gift is void” (section 122).
• The form for land and buildings: “the transfer must be effected by a registered instrument signed by or on behalf of the donor, and attested by at least two witnesses” (section 123).
• Only existing property: “A gift comprising both existing and future property is void as to the latter” (section 124).
• Who can gift: under section 7, a person “competent to contract and entitled to transferable property” may transfer it.
• Gifts with obligations: where a single gift includes property burdened by an obligation, “the donee can take nothing by the gift unless he accepts it fully” (section 127).

Section 129 says that nothing in this part of the Act “shall be deemed to affect any rule of Muhammadan law”. Gifts by Muslims are covered below.

Registration

• Compulsory, whatever the value: the Registration Act, 1908 lists “instruments of gift of immovable property” among documents that “shall be registered” (section 17(1)(a)). Unlike some other documents in that section, clause (a) carries no minimum value. The Registration and Stamps Department’s FAQ also lists a “Gift deed of immovable property” as compulsorily registrable.
• An unregistered gift deed: a document that must be registered and is not shall not “affect any immovable property comprised therein” or “be received as evidence of any transaction affecting such property” (section 49).
• Four months: a document other than a will must be presented for registration “within four months from the date of its execution” (section 23), subject to the exceptions in the Act.
• From when it operates: a registered document operates from the time it would have operated if no registration had been required, “and not from the time of its registration” (section 47).

These sections are quoted from the Telangana Registration and Stamps Department’s text of the Act as in force on 2 June 2014.

Possession and keeping a right to live there

Many parents gift a flat to a child but want to keep living in it. Under the Transfer of Property Act, the Supreme Court has said:

• Possession is not a condition: in Renikuntla Rajamma v K. Sarwanamma (17 July 2014, three judges), it said that “‘transfer of possession’ of the property covered by the registered instrument of the gift duly signed by the donor and attested as required is not a sine qua non for the making of a valid gift under the provisions of Transfer of Property Act, 1882”, and that “There is indeed no provision in law that ownership in property cannot be gifted without transfer of possession of such property.”
• A right to use for life: in the same case, the deed transferred absolute title and kept only “the right to use the property during the lifetime of the donor which does not in any way affect the transfer of ownership in favour of the donee by the donor.” Execution, attestation and acceptance were not disputed in that case.
• Acceptance shown by conduct: in N.P. Saseendran v N.P. Ponnamma (24 March 2025), the Court said that “delivery of possession is only one of the methods to prove acceptance and not the sole method”, and that “The factum of acceptance can be derived from the conduct of the parties.”

This is the position under the Transfer of Property Act. Muslim law treats possession differently; see hiba.

Stamp duty, transfer duty and registration fee in Telangana

The Registration and Stamps Department’s Ready Reckoner (page read on 28 October 2026) lists three separate charges for a gift deed, each on the market value of the property:

• Source of the rates: the stamp duty of 2% for a gift “in favour of member or members of a family” and 5% for a “Gift in other cases” was fixed by G.O.Ms.No.59 of 20 July 2021, with effect from 22 July 2021. The registration fees are in the Table of Fees in force from 2 September 2021.
• Who counts as family: G.O.Ms.No.59 refers to family “as defined in Explanation under Article 49” of the stamp schedule. Check with the Sub-Registrar or your advocate whether the person you are gifting to falls within that definition before you pay the duty.
• Market value: the department’s FAQ says the Sub-Registrar “will give market value slip in prescribed form about the market value of property”, and that if the parties do not agree, the matter may be referred to the District Registrar under section 47A after a deposit of 50% of the deficit duty.
• Gift or settlement: the department’s model deed for family members is titled “Gift Settlement Deed”, and the Ready Reckoner lists settlement deeds separately, with a 0% transfer duty for a settlement in favour of a family member. The Supreme Court has said that “the nomenclature of an instrument is immaterial and the nature of the document is to be derived from its contents” (Saseendran). What a deed is depends on what it says; take advice on the drafting.
• The model deeds: the department’s templates state: “DEPARTMENT OWNS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CLAUSES/COVENANTS USED IN THE MODEL DOCUMENTS.” They are a guide, not a required form.

Can a registered gift be cancelled?

Section 126 of the Transfer of Property Act sets out when a gift may be suspended or revoked:

• An agreed event: donor and donee “may agree that on the happening of any specified event which does not depend on the will of the donor a gift shall be suspended or revoked”.
• Not at the donor’s wish alone: “a gift which the parties agree shall be revocable wholly or in part, at the mere will of the donor, is void wholly or in part, as the case may be.”
• Grounds borrowed from contract law: “A gift may also be revoked in any of the cases (save want or failure of consideration) in which, if it were a contract, it might be rescinded.” Under the Indian Contract Act, 1872, consent caused by coercion, fraud, misrepresentation (section 19) or undue influence (section 19A) makes an agreement voidable.
• Otherwise: “Save as aforesaid, a gift cannot be revoked.”
• Buyers: the section does not affect “the rights of transferees for consideration without notice.”

A one-sided cancellation deed: in Saseendran (2025), the Supreme Court said: “Once a gift has been acted upon, the same cannot be unilaterally cancelled.” On the facts, it held that the executant “had no right to cancel the same unilaterally and the Sub Registrar had no right to register the cancellation deed”, that “The reasons for cancellation or revocation of gift have to be proved in a court of law”, and that the unilateral cancellation was void. Separately, in Satya Pal Anand v State of M.P. (2016), a bench of three judges held that once a document is registered, no authority under the Registration Act can cancel the registration, and the aggrieved party can go to the civil court.

The civil suit: “Any person against whom a written instrument is void or voidable, and who has reasonable apprehension that such instrument, if left outstanding may cause him serious injury, may sue to have it adjudged void or voidable; and the court may, in its discretion, so adjudge it and order it to be delivered up and cancelled” (Specific Relief Act, 1963, section 31(1)). The court sends a copy of its decree to the registering office, which notes the cancellation (section 31(2)). The time limit is three years from when the facts entitling the plaintiff to have the instrument cancelled “first become known to him” (Limitation Act, 1963, Article 59).

Whether any of these grounds exists in a particular case depends on the deed and the facts. See also our guide on forged and fraudulent deeds.

Parents and the Senior Citizens Act

Section 23(1) of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 provides that where a senior citizen, after the Act’s commencement, “has transferred by way of gift or otherwise, his property, subject to the condition that the transferee shall provide the basic amenities and basic physical needs to the transferor and such transferee refuses or fails to provide such amenities and physical needs, the said transfer of property shall be deemed to have been made by fraud or coercion or under undue influence and shall at the option of the transferor be declared void by the Tribunal.” A senior citizen is a citizen of India who has attained the age of sixty years or above (section 2(h)).

• Two conditions: in Sudesh Chhikara v Ramti Devi (6 December 2022), the Supreme Court said that for section 23(1), “the following two conditions must be fulfilled”: the transfer “must have been made subject to the condition that the transferee shall provide the basic amenities and basic physical needs to the transferor”, and “the transferee refuses or fails to provide such amenities and physical needs to the transferor.”
• Gifts out of love and affection: the Court added that when a senior citizen gifts property to “near and dear ones, a condition of looking after the senior citizen is not necessarily attached to it”, that “very often, such transfers are made out of love and affection without any expectation in return”, and that where such a condition is alleged, its “existence … must be established before the Tribunal.” In that case the condition was “not even pleaded”, and the petition failed.
• A beneficial reading: in Urmila Dixit v Sunil Sharan Dixit (2 January 2025), the gift deed itself recorded that the donee would maintain the donor, and a promissory note signed the same day recorded that the donee would serve the donor and her husband till the end of their life. The Court said the two conditions in Sudesh “must be appropriately interpreted to further the beneficial nature of the legislation and not strictly”, quashed the gift deed, and held that Tribunals under the Act can order possession to be transferred.
• Maintenance against a transferee: where a senior citizen has a right to receive maintenance out of an estate and the estate is transferred, the right may be enforced against the transferee “if the transferee has notice of the right, or if the transfer is gratuitous” (section 23(2)).
• Civil courts: section 27 says no civil court shall have jurisdiction “in respect of any matter to which any provision of this Act applies”. Which forum fits a particular dispute is a question to take advice on.

A parent who plans to gift a property and expects to be looked after may wish to discuss with an advocate how the deed records the arrangement. See our guide on maintenance.

Muslim families: hiba (oral gift)

• Three essentials: in Hafeeza Bibi v Shaikh Farid (5 May 2011), an appeal from the Andhra Pradesh High Court, the Supreme Court said that “the three essentials of a gift under Mohammadan Law are; (i) declaration of the gift by the donor; (2) acceptance of the gift by the donee and (3) delivery of possession”, that the rules “do not make writing essential to the validity of a gift”, and that “an oral gift fulfilling all the three essentials make the gift complete and irrevocable. However, the donor may record the transaction of gift in writing.”
• Writing and registration: the Court said that section 129 “excludes the applicability of Section 123 of T.P. Act to a gift of an immovable property by a Mohammadan”, and that “it is not the requirement that in all cases where the gift deed is contemporaneous to the making of the gift then such deed must be registered under Section 17 of the Registration Act. Each case would depend on its own facts.”
• The old Andhra Pradesh view: the Court said: “We are unable to concur with the view of the Full Bench of Andhra Pradesh High Court in the case of Tayyaba Begum”, and approved the view that a deed of gift by a Muslim “is not the instrument effecting, creating or making the gift but a mere piece of evidence”.
• Possession must be given: in Mahboob Sahab v Syed Ismail (23 March 1995), the Court said a gift by a Muslim “is not required to be in writing and consequently need not be registered”, but that declaration, acceptance and delivery of possession must be proved, and “In case of immovable property in the possession of the donor, he should completely divest himself physically of the subject of the gift.” In that case, those essentials were not proved.

Whether a particular hiba is complete, and whether a written record of it needs registration, depends on the facts.

Minors

• A minor cannot be the donor: section 7 of the Transfer of Property Act requires a transferor “competent to contract”, and under section 11 of the Indian Contract Act a person is competent to contract if “of the age of majority according to the law to which he is subject”, of sound mind and not otherwise disqualified.
• A Hindu minor’s property: under the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956, a natural guardian shall not, “without the previous permission of the court”, transfer by gift any part of the minor’s immovable property (section 8(2)), and a disposal in breach is “voidable at the instance of the minor or any person claiming under him” (section 8(3)).
• A gift to a minor: section 122 allows acceptance “by or on behalf of the donee”. The department’s model family deed provides for a donee who is a minor represented by a parent or guardian. Under section 127, a donee not competent to contract who accepts property burdened by an obligation is not bound by the acceptance, but becomes bound if, after becoming competent and aware of the obligation, he retains the property.

After registration: GHMC and land records

• GHMC property tax: under G.O.Ms.No.155 of 30 May 2016, the Government authorised Sub-Registrars “to collect the Mutation Fee at the time of transfer of immovable property by way of sale or gift.” GHMC’s procedure note says the mutation “will be initiated suo-moto by the Deputy Commissioner concerned based on the information received online from the Registration Departments web service.”
• The fee: the department’s fee page lists mutation at an urban local body as “0.1 % of the registration value of the property transferred” or Rs 1,000 in Municipalities and Rs 3,000 in Municipal Corporations, “whichever is higher”.
• Agricultural land: under the Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act, 2025 (Gazette text as hosted by PRS Legislative Research), a person who intends to transfer agricultural land by gift under a registered document applies online for a slot (section 5(1)), and “Immediately after the document is registered, the Tahsildar shall carry out the consequent amendment” to the Record of Rights (section 5(5)).

See our guides on the encumbrance certificate and property document verification.

Income tax

The Income-tax Act, 2025 came into force on 1 April 2026 (section 1(3)). Section 92(2)(m) treats immovable property received without consideration, above a stamp duty value threshold set in the Act, as income. Section 92(3) says this does not apply to property received “from any relative”, “on the occasion of marriage of the individual” or “under a will or by way of inheritance”. “Relative” is defined in section 92(5)(g). That list is not the same as the stamp duty definition of family, so a gift may fall in one and not the other. Check the tax position with a tax professional before registering.

Checklist

• Title documents of the donor, and an encumbrance certificate for the property.
• Whether the donee is “family” for stamp duty, and a “relative” for income tax.
• Whether the property is in a Gram Panchayat area, which changes how the transfer duty and registration fee are listed.
• The market value the Sub-Registrar will apply.
• Two attesting witnesses, and the donee’s acceptance.
• Any condition the donor wants recorded, such as a right to live in the property or to be maintained, drafted with advice. Under section 126, a gift that the parties agree shall be revocable at the mere will of the donor is void wholly or in part, as the case may be.
• Presentation for registration within four months of signing.
• GHMC mutation, or Record of Rights for agricultural land, after registration.

Related guides: drafting a will, partition of family property, legal heir certificate, GPA and agreements of sale and forged sale deeds.

For a discussion about a gift deed, or about a gift that a family now disputes, with Musab Hashmi & Associates, call +91 89771 24916 or send an enquiry. Do not include identity numbers or copies of documents in the first message.

General legal information, not legal advice. Checked on 28 October 2026 against the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, the Registration Act, 1908 as in force in Telangana on 2 June 2014 (Registration and Stamps Department text), the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as in force in Telangana, G.O.Ms.No.59 of 20 July 2021 and the Table of Registration Fees from 2 September 2021, the Registration and Stamps Department’s Ready Reckoner, FAQ, fee page and model gift deeds (read on 28 October 2026), the Specific Relief Act, 1963, the Limitation Act, 1963, the Indian Contract Act, 1872, the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956, the Income-tax Act, 2025 as enacted, the Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act, 2025 (Gazette copy hosted by PRS Legislative Research), G.O.Ms.No.155 of 30 May 2016 and GHMC’s mutation procedure note, and the Supreme Court judgments in Renikuntla Rajamma v K. Sarwanamma (17 July 2014), N.P. Saseendran v N.P. Ponnamma (24 March 2025), Satya Pal Anand v State of M.P. (26 October 2016), Sudesh Chhikara v Ramti Devi (6 December 2022), Urmila Dixit v Sunil Sharan Dixit (2 January 2025), Hafeeza Bibi v Shaikh Farid (5 May 2011) and Mahboob Sahab v Syed Ismail (23 March 1995).