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Fit-Out Period Letter (Rent-Free Period)

At a glance

Price: ₹399 · GST included
Stamp duty: This Letter is stamped as an Agreement under Article 5, Schedule 1-A to the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as applicable to Punjab (Punjab), and under the equivalent Article 5 of the Chandigarh Administration's own stamp schedule (Chandigarh) — not under the Pattanama/Lease article, because Clause 6.3 confirms this Letter creates no interest in the Premises and grants no right of occupation of its own.
Registration: Not compulsorily registrable as drafted.
Witnesses: No statute requires this Letter to be witnessed, because it is not ordinarily presented for registration.

₹399

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Also called

Rent-Free Fit-Out Period Letter
Fit-Out Period Confirmation Letter
Rent Holiday Letter
Fit-Out Rent Waiver Letter
Landlord's Letter Confirming Fit-Out Period
Side Letter on Fit-Out Period
Fit-Out Grace Period Letter

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Why you need it

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A short letter, signed alongside or shortly after a commercial Lease Deed for premises in Punjab or Chandigarh, that records the fit-out period the Landlord has given the Tenant before Rent starts — the start and end dates, that Rent is not payable for that period, whether maintenance and utility charges are waived too, what the Tenant may do at the Premises during that period, and what happens to Rent if the Tenant has not finished by the end of it. Use it once the Lease Deed itself is signed (and, where registration is compulsory, registered) but is silent on the fit-out dates, or records them in less detail than the Parties now want on paper — a letter the Tenant's lender or finance team can rely on without reading the whole Lease Deed. Not a substitute for the Lease Deed itself, and not for a fit-out that needs contractor vetting, insurance, a fit-out security deposit or a decision on who owns the fit-out at the end of the term — the Fit-Out Agreement and Landlord's Consent to Works is the document for that; this Letter is only the rent-free period, standing alone. Two points specific to Punjab and Chandigarh worth reading before this Letter is relied on. In Chandigarh, the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949 applies to every tenanted building whatever the rent (Vasu Dev Singh v. Union of India, Supreme Court of India, 7 November 2006) — a Rent Controller petition still needs a Section 13 ground to recover possession after the Fit-Out Period, and nothing in this Letter changes that. In Punjab, a non-residential letting made on or after 30 November 2013 is ordinarily governed by contract under Section 3(2) of the Punjab Rent Act, 1995 — but where the Lease Deed itself went through the Section 4(2) Schedule I Form route, whether a later letter varying the rent-free period needs the same route is unsettled; see the formality note below. Not for a residential tenancy, for a letting where no Lease Deed yet exists (sign that first), or for a fit-out that alters the Premises' structure or the Building's core systems — record the Landlord's consent to those Works, and the terms on which the Tenant's fit-out is treated at lease-end, in a fuller fit-out agreement instead.

See stamp duty, registration and witnesses

What follows is written for Punjab and Chandigarh. It states the position there rather than describing how it varies, so the amounts below are the ones that apply — worth confirming at the sub-registrar’s office, because rates change. If the property is anywhere else in India, none of this is yours.

Stamp duty

This Letter is stamped as an Agreement under Article 5, Schedule 1-A to the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as applicable to Punjab (Punjab), and under the equivalent Article 5 of the Chandigarh Administration's own stamp schedule (Chandigarh) — not under the Pattanama/Lease article, because Clause 6.3 confirms this Letter creates no interest in the Premises and grants no right of occupation of its own. Neither the Punjab Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management's own "Document wise detail of Stamp Duty, Registration Fee and Facilitation charges" table (revenue.punjab.gov.in, checked 18 September 2026) nor the Chandigarh Sub-Registrar's own stamp duty and registration fee table (revenue.chd.gov.in, checked 18 September 2026) lists a plain Agreement by name — both list only the major named instruments (Sale/Gift, Pattanama/Lease, Power of Attorney, Will, Partnership Deed, Family Settlement, and so on) — so the Article 5 figure that applies to this Letter is not in either ready reckoner and has to be confirmed before the stamp is bought: at the Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited e-stamp counter in Punjab, or at the Sub-Registrar's counter, 30 Bays Building, Sector 17 in Chandigarh. Real risk: if this Letter is read as itself granting the Tenant possession, or as fixing a rent-free term independent of the Lease Deed, the Collector can treat it as a Pattanama/lease or as varying one, and charge the ad valorem duty that instrument carries instead of the flat Agreement duty — in Punjab 4% to 8% of the annual rent depending on the term, in Chandigarh 2% to 3% of the annual average rent plus 3% on the refundable security deposit only, never advance rent (verified at the Sub-Registrar, SAS Nagar (Mohali), September 2026), the same bands the Lease Deed itself is stamped on. Clause 6.3 exists to prevent that recharacterisation. Keep the Fit-Out Period and the rent waiver inside the registered Lease Deed wherever that is practical, and use this Letter only to record what the Lease Deed left open or less detailed. Stamp each counterpart; e-stamp through the Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited in Punjab, or buy stamp paper from a licensed vendor or the State Bank of India Treasury Branch, Sector 17 in Chandigarh for the higher values.

Registration

Not compulsorily registrable as drafted. Section 17(1)(d) of the Registration Act, 1908 and Section 107 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 catch a lease from year to year, for a term exceeding a year, or reserving a yearly rent — this Letter grants no lease and no right of occupation of its own (Clause 6.3), so neither section reaches it by itself. The real risk sits with the Lease Deed, not this Letter. Where the Lease Deed is itself compulsorily registrable — a term exceeding a year, or year to year, or at a yearly rent — and is not registered, Section 49 of the Registration Act, 1908 keeps it out of evidence of the term and the rent, and this Letter's waiver of Rent for the Fit-Out Period then rests on a tenancy the Tenant can prove only month to month. Confirm the Lease Deed is registered, where registration is compulsory, before this Letter is relied on. Where the Lease Deed is a Punjab non-residential letting caught by Section 4(1)-(2) of the Punjab Rent Act, 1995 — required to be on the Schedule I Form and registered at a flat Rs 1,000 — whether a later letter recording or varying the rent-free period has to go through that same route, or can stand as an ordinary unregistered agreement, is exactly the question the Lease Deed's own formality note leaves open. Raise it at the same registering office before relying on this Letter where the Lease Deed itself went through the Schedule I Form. If the Parties choose to register this Letter out of caution, or a lender asks for that, present it in Punjab to the Sub-Registrar of the tehsil in which the Premises lie, via igrpunjab.gov.in, and in Chandigarh to the Sub-Registrar, 30 Bays Building, Sector 17, via revenue.chd.gov.in, within four months of signature under Section 23 of the Registration Act, 1908 (a further four months on a fine of up to ten times the registration fee, under Section 25).

Notarisation

Not required to give this Letter effect, and does not cure a registration defect. Use a notary for the papers around it instead — a board resolution or authority letter for whoever signs, or a power of attorney used to sign this Letter, which under Section 33 of the Registration Act, 1908 needs authentication (by the registering officer, a magistrate, or, if executed abroad, a notary followed by consular attestation) before this Letter is signed, not after.

Witnesses

No statute requires this Letter to be witnessed, because it is not ordinarily presented for registration. Given what it waives and re-fixes, two witnesses — adults, not the Parties or their signatories — remain good practice, and the signature block provides for them. If the Parties do register this Letter, the same rule the Lease Deed is registered under then applies: in Chandigarh, under paragraph 127 of the Punjab Registration Manual, the first witness must be known to the Sub-Registrar — in the sectors, in practice a councillor, a gazetted officer or an advocate — and the two witnesses known to each other; in Punjab, two identifying witnesses with photo ID are needed, captured in NGDRS.

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FIT-OUT PERIOD LETTER (RENT-FREE PERIOD)

This Fit-Out Period Letter (this "Letter") is made at Chandigarh on 1 April 2026.

BETWEEN

Sahni Commercial Properties LLP, a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013, of SCO 45, Sector 34-A, Chandigarh 160022, PAN AAFCS4321P (the "Landlord", which expression includes its successors in interest and permitted assigns);

AND

Northline Retail Ventures Private Limited, a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013, of Plot No. 12, Industrial Area Phase II, Chandigarh 160002, PAN AAGCN6789Q (the "Tenant", which expression includes its successors in interest and permitted assigns).

The Landlord and the Tenant are each a "Party" and together the "Parties".

RECITALS

A. By a Lease Deed dated 2 April 2026 between the Parties, registered as Document No. 2214/2026, Sub-Registrar, S.A.S. Nagar (Mohali) (the "Lease Deed"), the Landlord let to the Tenant the premises described in Recital B (the "Premises"), situated in the State of Punjab.

B. The Premises are: Unit 210, Second Floor, Tower A, Elante Business Centre, Industrial Area Phase I, Chandigarh.

C. The Tenant needs a period before Rent becomes payable under the Lease Deed in which to fit out the Premises for its business, and the Parties wish to record the terms of that period in writing, including the period for which Rent is not payable.

D. This Letter records those terms. It is supplemental to the Lease Deed and is to be read together with it, as Clause 6 below states.

IT IS AGREED AS FOLLOWS

1. THE FIT-OUT PERIOD

1.1 The "Fit-Out Period" means the period beginning on 3 April 2026 and ending on 4 April 2026, both dates inclusive.

2. RENT, MAINTENANCE AND UTILITIES DURING THE FIT-OUT PERIOD

2.1 No Rent is payable by the Tenant in respect of the Premises for the Fit-Out Period.

2.2 No common area maintenance charges, car parking charges or utility charges are payable by the Tenant in respect of the Premises for the Fit-Out Period; these too stand waived along with Rent for that period.

Questions about this document

Does the Fit-Out Period Letter (Rent-Free Period) need stamp paper or stamp duty in Punjab and Chandigarh?

Real risk: if this Letter is read as itself granting the Tenant possession, or as fixing a rent-free term independent of the Lease Deed, the Collector can treat it as a Pattanama/lease or as varying one, and charge the ad valorem duty that instrument carries instead of the flat Agreement duty — in Punjab 4% to 8% of the annual rent depending on the term, in Chandigarh 2% to 3% of the annual average rent plus 3% on the refundable security deposit only, never advance rent (verified at the Sub-Registrar, SAS Nagar (Mohali), September 2026), the same bands the Lease Deed itself is stamped on. Clause 6.3 exists to prevent that recharacterisation. Keep the Fit-Out Period and the rent waiver inside the registered Lease Deed wherever that is practical, and use this Letter only to record what the Lease Deed left open or less detailed. Stamp each counterpart; e-stamp through the Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited in Punjab, or buy stamp paper from a licensed vendor or the State Bank of India Treasury Branch, Sector 17 in Chandigarh for the higher values.

Does the Fit-Out Period Letter (Rent-Free Period) need registration in Punjab and Chandigarh?

The real risk sits with the Lease Deed, not this Letter. Where the Lease Deed is itself compulsorily registrable — a term exceeding a year, or year to year, or at a yearly rent — and is not registered, Section 49 of the Registration Act, 1908 keeps it out of evidence of the term and the rent, and this Letter's waiver of Rent for the Fit-Out Period then rests on a tenancy the Tenant can prove only month to month. Confirm the Lease Deed is registered, where registration is compulsory, before this Letter is relied on.

Where the Lease Deed is a Punjab non-residential letting caught by Section 4(1)-(2) of the Punjab Rent Act, 1995 — required to be on the Schedule I Form and registered at a flat Rs 1,000 — whether a later letter recording or varying the rent-free period has to go through that same route, or can stand as an ordinary unregistered agreement, is exactly the question the Lease Deed's own formality note leaves open. Raise it at the same registering office before relying on this Letter where the Lease Deed itself went through the Schedule I Form.

If the Parties choose to register this Letter out of caution, or a lender asks for that, present it in Punjab to the Sub-Registrar of the tehsil in which the Premises lie, via igrpunjab.gov.in, and in Chandigarh to the Sub-Registrar, 30 Bays Building, Sector 17, via revenue.chd.gov.in, within four months of signature under Section 23 of the Registration Act, 1908 (a further four months on a fine of up to ten times the registration fee, under Section 25).

What does the Fit-Out Period Letter (Rent-Free Period) cost on Kaagazaat?

₹399, GST included.

Launch period: downloads are free for now. The prices shown apply once payments open.

Does the Fit-Out Period Letter (Rent-Free Period) need witnesses?

Often needed with this document

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