Frequently Asked Questions

Every Question
Answered

From TDS rates and FEMA compliance to Dwarka Expressway investment and management fees — plain-English answers written by our in-house CA and legal team. Updated quarterly.

Showing all 45 questions
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NRI Property Ownership

Yes — completely and freely. Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) are permitted to purchase, own, rent, and sell residential and commercial property anywhere in India under FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999). There is no limit on the number of properties you can own and no prior RBI approval is needed for purchase.

This applies to NRIs with Indian passports. Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) also have similar rights. Agricultural land, plantation property, and farmhouses are the only categories NRIs cannot purchase directly.

India has zero foreign buyer surcharges — unlike Singapore (60%), Canada (25%), or Australia, where NRI-equivalent buyers face heavy additional stamp duties. This is a meaningful structural advantage for Indian NRIs.
Read our full NRI property rights guide

Yes — a few specific categories. NRIs cannot directly purchase agricultural land, plantation property, or farmhouses in India. However, they can inherit or receive these as gifts from resident Indians.

All other residential and commercial property — apartments, villas, plots, shops, offices, builder floors, co-working spaces — can be purchased freely in any city, in any number.

There are two account types relevant to NRI property transactions:

  • NRE (Non-Resident External) Account: Funds sourced from overseas income. Fully repatriable. Interest earned in India is tax-free. Use this to receive repatriated rental income.
  • NRO (Non-Resident Ordinary) Account: For income earned in India (rental income, dividends). Repatriation capped at USD 1M/year. Subject to Indian income tax.

Rental income is collected into an NRO account. After filing Form 15CA/15CB, it can be transferred to your NRE account and then remitted overseas.

See our compliance service

There is no limit. NRIs can own as many residential and commercial properties in India as they wish. The number of properties has no bearing on tax status or FEMA compliance — each property's rental income and sale proceeds are assessed independently.

If you manage multiple properties through PropTrustee, we offer a 10% discount on the second property's annual retainer and 15% on the third and beyond.

View multi-property pricing

For routine property management — tenant placement, rent collection, maintenance — a Power of Attorney (POA) is not required. We handle all of this on your behalf through our management agreement.

A limited POA is required for transactions like property registration, resale, mutation filings, or legal proceedings on your behalf. It can be executed at the nearest Indian consulate or embassy in about 1–2 hours and then apostilled for use in India.

We guide every client through the POA process when needed and pre-prepare all required documentation.

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Our Management Services

Our Full Mandate plan covers the complete lifecycle of NRI property management:

  • Tenant sourcing, background verification, and lease drafting
  • Rent collection and direct transfer to your NRE/NRO account within 5 days
  • Monthly photographic inspection reports
  • Emergency maintenance with 4-hour response
  • TDS coordination and Form 15CA/15CB filing every remittance
  • Society and builder liaison
  • Move-in and move-out condition documentation

Our Concierge plan additionally includes legal retainer, CA advisory, and quarterly review calls.

View all plans and pricing

We charge an annual retainer per property plus a rental commission during tenancy periods:

  • Watchover (Vacant): ₹24,000/year — no rental commission
  • Full Mandate: ₹54,000/year + 8% of monthly rent collected
  • Concierge (Elite): ₹90,000/year + 6% of monthly rent (reduced commission)

For a property renting at ₹50,000/month on Full Mandate, the all-in cost is approximately ₹4,500/month — less than the cost of a single unreported maintenance issue handled without oversight.

All repair and maintenance costs are separate, passed through at cost with zero markup, and require your written approval before we proceed.
See full pricing breakdown

We guarantee a verified, lease-signed tenant within 14 days of your property being listed and rental-ready. If we do not achieve this, we waive our first month's placement fee.

Our average across Gurgaon's premium zones is 8–11 days. For premium zones like DLF, Golf Course Road, and Golf Course Extension Road, we typically have a pre-qualified buyer pool before listing goes live.

We run a rigorous 5-stage verification process before presenting any tenant to you:

  • Government-issued identity verification (Aadhaar, Passport, PAN)
  • Employment and income verification with documentary proof
  • Reference checks with previous landlords
  • Police verification through local authorities (Gurgaon Police)
  • Lease agreement drafted by our legal team with NRI-specific clauses

You see the shortlisted tenant's full profile and approve them before the lease is signed. We never commit on your behalf without your explicit sign-off.

We operate a WhatsApp-first communication model because that is how NRIs actually communicate. Every inspection report, rent transfer notification, and approval request is sent directly to WhatsApp — no app to download, no portal login required for day-to-day updates.

Our Client Portal provides a permanent, searchable record of everything: inspection photos, rent ledger, compliance filings, maintenance invoices, and all documents related to your property. Accessible from anywhere, 24/7.

You also receive a written monthly summary regardless of whether anything happened — so silence is never ambiguous.

For all expenses above ₹1,000, we send you the vendor quote, photos of the issue, and our recommendation via WhatsApp before proceeding. You approve or reject — we proceed only on your instruction.

For emergencies (water leaks, electrical failures, security issues), we respond within 4 hours and simultaneously notify you. Truly emergency stabilisation work that cannot wait is handled immediately; you are informed in real time.

All maintenance costs are passed through at cost with zero markup. Every invoice is photographed and uploaded to your portal within 24 hours of completion.

Yes. Our Watchover plan (₹24,000/year) is specifically designed for vacant properties. An empty property is not a dormant asset — unpaid society dues, encroachment risk, utility disconnections, and gradual deterioration are all active problems that accumulate silently.

Watchover includes bi-monthly video inspections, utility bill payment, society dues management, encroachment monitoring, and ready-to-rent preparation when you decide to let.

Learn about vacant property watch
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Tax & TDS Obligations

The standard TDS rate is 30% of gross monthly rent, plus applicable surcharge and cess (effectively ~31.2% for most NRIs). Your tenant is legally obligated to deduct this and deposit it with the Income Tax Department before remitting you the balance.

For a property renting at ₹50,000/month, your tenant should be transferring ₹34,400 to you and depositing ₹15,600 as TDS.

⚠️ Many individual tenants are unaware of this obligation. If your tenant fails to deduct TDS, you are still liable for the underlying tax, and the tenant faces penalties under Section 201. This is one of the most common compliance failures in self-managed NRI properties.
Read the full TDS guide

Yes. You can apply for a Lower TDS Certificate (Form 13) from the Income Tax Department. If your actual Indian tax liability is below 30% after allowable deductions, the department issues a certificate authorising your tenant to deduct at a reduced rate — often 10–15%.

  • Application filed by your Indian CA (we handle this for management clients)
  • Processing time: typically 4–6 weeks
  • Valid for one financial year (April–March), renewable annually
  • For a ₹50,000/month rental, a reduction to 10% saves approximately ₹6,000/month

Yes. If your Indian rental income exceeds the basic exemption threshold (currently ₹2.5 lakh/year), filing an ITR is legally required — even if the tax has already been deducted by your tenant.

Filing also enables you to claim refunds on excess TDS, deduct standard allowances (30% standard deduction on rental income), and establish a clean tax record for future transactions including resale.

Our CA team files Indian income tax returns for all Concierge plan clients. Full Mandate clients can add this as a ₹5,000/year add-on.

Post-Budget 2024, the rates are:

  • Long-term capital gains (property held 24+ months): 12.5% without indexation
  • Short-term capital gains (held under 24 months): Taxed at your applicable income tax slab rate

At 12.5%, India's LTCG rate is significantly lower than equivalent rates in the US (20%+), UK (24–28%), or Australia (up to 45%). The buyer is also required to deduct TDS at 12.5% (plus surcharge) on the sale consideration — this can be adjusted against your final tax liability.

See our resale management service

The penalties fall on both the tenant and the NRI landlord:

  • Tenant who fails to deduct: penalty equal to the TDS amount + 1.5% interest per month from due date
  • Tenant who deducts but fails to deposit: criminal liability under Section 276B
  • NRI who does not file return: ₹5,000–10,000 penalty plus interest on outstanding tax
  • NRI who receives rent without tenant deducting: deemed assessee-in-default; liable for the full tax plus interest

These penalties are why having a professional managing your compliance — not just your property — is essential.

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FEMA & Repatriation

The process involves three steps:

  • Step 1: Rent is collected into your NRO account (after TDS deduction by tenant)
  • Step 2: Your CA files Form 15CA (your declaration) and Form 15CB (CA certificate) confirming tax compliance
  • Step 3: Your Indian bank processes the remittance to your overseas account

On our Full Mandate and Concierge plans, we handle Steps 2 and 3 every month without you having to request it. Funds typically reach overseas accounts within 3–5 business days of rent collection.

Without Form 15CA/15CB, banks will not process the transfer. NRIs who try to move money informally risk FEMA violations — penalties of up to 3x the remitted amount.

From an NRO account, NRIs can repatriate up to USD 1 million (approximately ₹8.3 crore) per financial year after applicable taxes. This limit is more than sufficient for virtually all rental income scenarios.

If you need to repatriate more — for instance, following a property sale — additional RBI approval can be sought. Our legal team handles this regularly.

NRE accounts are fully repatriable with no annual limit, which is why transitioning from NRO to NRE is recommended for long-term holders.

These are mandatory documents required by Indian banks before processing any remittance from India to an overseas account:

  • Form 15CB — A certificate issued by a Chartered Accountant confirming that applicable taxes have been deducted and the remittance complies with FEMA. Your CA issues this.
  • Form 15CA — Your own online declaration to the Income Tax Department that you are making a foreign remittance and taxes are in order. Your CA files this.

These must be filed for every remittance. On our managed plans, this paperwork is handled automatically — you never have to think about it.

Read more about 15CA/15CB

NRO-to-NRE transfers require a CA certificate confirming that applicable taxes have been paid on the funds. The CA issues a letter in the format prescribed by the bank, along with Form 15CA/15CB. The bank then processes the internal transfer.

This is available as a standalone service (₹8,000 per transfer) or is included in our Concierge plan. The NRE account balance is then fully repatriable with no annual limit.

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Gurgaon Investment

The Dwarka Expressway corridor has delivered 153% price appreciation in five years (2019–2024). Several structural factors underpin continued growth:

  • India's first 16-lane elevated highway — 29km fully operational, cutting commute times dramatically
  • Underground IGI Airport tunnel — most sectors now 15–25 minutes from the airport
  • 28.5km metro expansion approved — operational by 2027–28
  • Gurugram Global City Phase 1 (570 acres) — under development by 2026–27
  • Average price per sqft grew from ₹6,100 (2019) to ₹15,450 (2024) — projected ₹17,000+ in 2025
For NRIs earning in USD, GBP, or AED, rupee depreciation adds an additional 2–3% return annually on top of property appreciation — a structural advantage unavailable to resident Indian investors.
View the full market intelligence report

Across our portfolio of 340+ managed properties, gross rental yields in Gurgaon currently range from:

  • 4.2–5.5% for Golf Course Road and DLF Phase premium zones
  • 4.8–6.2% for Golf Course Extension Road and Sector 50–57
  • 3.5–4.8% for ultra-luxury properties (lower yield but higher capital appreciation)

Net yield after management fee and TDS is typically 3.2–4.8%. When combined with 8–12% annual price appreciation and the currency benefit for overseas NRIs, total annualised returns can reach 12–15% in USD/GBP terms.

Based on our analysis of 6,550+ active listings and pipeline projects, the highest-appreciation zones are:

  • Sectors 99, 102, 103, 104 — Established micro-markets with strong rental demand and premium developer presence
  • Sectors 106, 107, 108 — Infrastructure-adjacent with direct airport tunnel access
  • Sectors 111, 113 — Delhi-Gurgaon border; high-density premium and commercial mix
  • Sector 36A — Ultra-luxury concentration; Max Estates presence

For affordable entry, Sector 19B Dwarka (Delhi side) offers government-backed housing from ₹40 lakh with strong rental demand.

View all 30 featured projects

The Indian Rupee has historically depreciated at approximately 2–3% per year against major currencies (USD, GBP, AED, CAD, AUD). For an NRI earning in these currencies, this depreciation translates into an additional annual return.

A Gurgaon property appreciating at 8% in INR terms delivers approximately 10–11% in USD terms — before rental income. This systematic advantage is unavailable to resident Indian investors and is a structural reason why Gurgaon real estate is consistently oversubscribed among NRI buyers.

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Buying Property Remotely

Yes. The entire purchase process can be completed remotely:

  • Shortlisting: Video walkthroughs of shortlisted properties via WhatsApp or video call
  • Due diligence: Title verification, RERA check, approvals — all verifiable online and through our legal team
  • Booking: Online payment from NRE/NRO account via NEFT/RTGS
  • Registration: Via limited Power of Attorney executed at your nearest Indian consulate
  • Possession: We receive possession on your behalf and conduct a video handover inspection

We have completed purchases entirely remotely for clients in Dubai, San Jose, London, and Singapore without a single India visit.

Browse current project opportunities

Payments can be made from:

  • NRE account: Fully repatriable funds — preferred for investment purchases as the source is clean for future repatriation
  • NRO account: Indian-sourced funds also acceptable
  • Direct overseas remittance: Wire transfer from your overseas bank directly to the builder — also permitted under FEMA

Cash payments and payments through third-party accounts are not permitted and can create title complications at the time of sale. Always pay by bank transfer from an account in your own name.

Before committing to any new project purchase, verify:

  • RERA registration: Every project must be registered with HRERA (Haryana RERA). Verify at hrera.gov.in
  • Land title: The developer must have clear, unencumbered title. Request the title certificate.
  • Approvals: Building plan approval, environmental clearance, and commencement certificate
  • Developer track record: Check the developer's delivery history on previous projects — possession delays and quality issues are common in India's mid-segment
  • Escrow arrangement: Post-RERA, 70% of collected funds must be deposited in an escrow account and can only be used for that project

PropTrustee conducts this due diligence for every project we recommend. We never list projects we wouldn't confidently manage ourselves.

Yes. NRIs are eligible for home loans from Indian banks and NBFCs (HDFC, ICICI, SBI, Axis, Bajaj Finserv, etc.). Typical conditions:

  • Loan-to-value: up to 75–80% of property value
  • Repayment via NRO/NRE account or direct overseas remittance
  • Interest rates: typically 8.5–10.5% depending on lender and profile
  • EMI cannot be paid in foreign currency directly — must come from Indian account

We assist clients with bank introductions and documentation for home loan applications as part of our buyer advisory service.

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Selling & Exit

Yes. The entire resale transaction can be managed through a limited Power of Attorney. PropTrustee's resale service covers:

  • Independent market valuation within 5 business days
  • Buyer sourcing through our network and premium platforms
  • Price negotiation and transaction management
  • Sale documentation — agreement, conveyance deed, NOC
  • Capital gains computation and advance tax filing
  • TDS on sale proceeds (Form 27Q) management
  • Repatriation of net proceeds to your international account

Our average time from listing to sale is 45 days. Funds in your international account typically within 30 days of registration.

View resale management service

When an Indian resident buys property from an NRI, they must deduct TDS before paying the NRI seller:

  • Long-term capital gains: TDS at 12.5% (plus surcharge — effective ~13–20% depending on gain amount)
  • Short-term capital gains: TDS at 30% plus applicable surcharge

The buyer files Form 27Q to deposit this TDS. As the NRI seller, you can claim credit for this TDS against your final tax liability and receive a refund if excess was deducted. Applying for a lower withholding certificate before the sale can significantly reduce the upfront deduction.

Yes, subject to limits and conditions:

  • Sale proceeds first credited to NRO account after buyer TDS deduction
  • Capital gains tax paid (or claimed via TDS credit)
  • Up to USD 1 million per financial year can be repatriated from NRO account
  • For amounts exceeding USD 1 million, RBI approval is required — our legal team handles this
  • Proceeds from property originally purchased with NRE funds are fully repatriable without limit

For a typical Gurgaon property transaction, the full net proceeds can be transferred in one or two remittances within the financial year.

Market times vary by zone and price point, but based on our portfolio:

  • DLF and Golf Course Road: Average 30–45 days to a qualified offer
  • Golf Course Extension Road: 35–50 days
  • Sector 50–57 and New Gurgaon: 45–70 days

Our average across the portfolio is 45 days from listing to sale. Correct pricing is the single biggest variable — overpriced properties in Gurgaon can sit for months. We provide an independent valuation before listing to ensure you sell at the best achievable market price, not just a fast one.

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340+
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12yr
Gurgaon Expertise
98%
Client Retention
45
Avg Days to Sell
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