An NRI's guide to renting out property in Bengaluru without losing sleep
The tax and banking mechanics are manageable. The part that goes wrong is almost always operational — and it is fixable.
A large share of Whitefield's rental stock is owned by people who do not live in India. The structural questions — tax, banking, documentation — are well-defined and solvable. What actually goes wrong is operational: the tenant who stops paying while you are eight time zones away, or the maintenance issue that becomes a ₹90,000 problem because nobody looked at it for a year.
Tax: the part people get wrong first
Rent paid to a non-resident owner attracts TDS under Section 195, and the obligation sits with the tenant, not with you. The rate is materially higher than the 194-IB rate that applies to resident landlords, and the tenant needs a TAN to deposit it.
- The tenant must deduct TDS under Section 195 and deposit it against your PAN
- You can apply under Section 197 for a lower or nil deduction certificate where your actual liability is lower
- Rental income is taxable in India regardless of where you live
- The standard 30% deduction on net annual value and the municipal-tax deduction both still apply to you
Banking and repatriation
Rent should be credited to an NRO account. From there, repatriation is permitted up to the prescribed annual limit with Form 15CA and a chartered accountant's Form 15CB. This is routine and your bank does it constantly — but it needs the paperwork done properly each time, which is exactly the sort of thing that slips when nobody is coordinating it locally.
Power of attorney
A properly executed POA lets someone in India sign the rental agreement, handle registration and act on your behalf. Execute it at the Indian consulate in your country of residence, then have it adjudicated and stamped in India. Keep the powers narrow and specific — a general POA over property is far more authority than a letting arrangement requires.
What to insist on from a manager
- 1A single named point of contact, not a rotating support queue
- 2A stated date each month when rent is transferred, and a statement that arrives whether or not you ask
- 3Inspection reports with dated photographs at a defined frequency
- 4Vendor invoices passed through at cost, so nobody profits from things breaking
- 5A written escalation process for non-payment, with you informed at day five rather than day thirty-five
- 6Communication timed to your timezone, not theirs
Screening matters more when you are far away
You cannot drop by. So the quality of tenant selection carries more weight for you than for a local owner. Employment verification, prior landlord reference, ID verification and police verification submission are not bureaucratic theatre — they are the mechanism by which you avoid the situation you actually fear.