# How an NRI Manages Property in India From Abroad

**An NRI manages property in India from abroad by making four decisions and then holding them: who acts on the ground, what written authority that person holds, where the rent lands and what tax it carries, and what proof comes back on a schedule.** Everything else, from the tenant to the leaking bathroom to the sale ten years out, is downstream of those four. Owners who lose property in India rarely lose it to a dramatic fraud. They lose it because nobody decided any of the four, and the arrangement drifted.

This page is the map. Each section gives the short answer and links to the guide that has the full one.

## The four decisions, in order

| Decision | The options | What goes wrong when it drifts |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Who acts for you | A relative, a broker, a professional manager | Nobody is accountable, because nobody was appointed |
| What authority they hold | Nothing in writing, a General POA, a Special POA | A broad POA sits with somebody for a decade |
| Where the money lands | A relative's account, your NRO account, cash | Rent is untraceable and the TDS was never deducted |
| What proof you get | A phone call, photos on request, a monthly report | You find out about the problem when it is expensive |

Take them in order. The second decision only makes sense once you have made the first.

## Decision one: who actually acts for you

There are three real options, and each fails in its own way.

**A relative.** Free, trusted, and unaccountable. The problem is not honesty. It is that you cannot performance-manage your brother, you will not chase him for receipts, and the arrangement quietly becomes his burden and then his resentment. It also concentrates authority in a person nobody supervises, which is how most POA misuse actually begins. We wrote the honest comparison in [property manager vs a relative](/guides/property-manager-vs-relative-managing-india-flat).

**A broker.** Available in every city, paid by the transaction. That is the flaw: a broker earns when a tenant moves, so a stable five-year tenancy is a bad outcome for him. Brokers are good at finding tenants and structurally uninterested in keeping them. See [property management company vs a broker](/guides/property-management-company-vs-broker-nri).

**A professional manager.** A fee you can audit, a named person, and a reporting obligation. The catch is that the category has a bad record with NRIs, and the reason is documented rather than mysterious: opaque billing, unverifiable work and no proof. Read [why NRIs do not trust property managers](/guides/why-nris-dont-trust-property-managers) before you shortlist anyone, then the market comparison in [NRI property management companies in India](/guides/best-nri-property-management-companies-india).

Whichever you pick, the test is the same: can you tell, from your desk in New Jersey or Dubai, what happened at the property last month without making a phone call? If the answer is no, the arrangement will fail. It has not failed yet.

## Decision two: the authority you grant

You cannot sign an Indian lease, collect a deposit, argue with a society or file a police verification from abroad. Somebody in India needs written authority to do it. That document is a power of attorney, and the single most consequential choice on this page is how wide you make it.

**Grant a Special POA, not a General POA.** A Special POA names the property, lists the exact acts, sets an expiry date, and excludes any power to sell, mortgage, gift, exchange or create a charge. A sub-registrar will not register a sale under an SPA that grants only management powers, and that refusal is your protection. The clause-by-clause version is in [the property management POA template guide](/guides/poa-for-property-management-template).

**The POA transfers nothing.** The Supreme Court settled this in *Suraj Lamp & Industries v. State of Haryana* (2011): a power of attorney is not an instrument of transfer of any right, title or interest in immovable property. Title moves only by a registered conveyance. See [can a General POA transfer property title](/guides/can-general-poa-transfer-property-title-india).

**The route from your country.** Sign before a notary, then apostille it or have it attested at the Indian mission, courier it to India, and get it stamped before the Collector of Stamps within three months of its arrival. Corridor guides: [USA](/guides/power-of-attorney-from-usa-to-india), [UK](/guides/power-of-attorney-from-uk-to-india), [UAE and Singapore](/guides/power-of-attorney-from-uae-singapore-to-india), and the general [apostille and attestation guide](/guides/apostille-attestation-india-property-documents).

**Know how to end it.** A POA you cannot cancel is worse than no POA. The cancellation has to be a registered Deed of Revocation at the same sub-registrar, served on the holder and published, or it does not bind anyone. See [how to revoke a power of attorney from abroad](/guides/revoke-power-of-attorney-from-abroad) and, if it has already gone wrong, [POA misuse: detect, revoke, recover](/guides/power-of-attorney-misuse-nri).

Grant the narrowest authority that lets the work happen, and diarise its expiry.

## Decision three: where the money lands, and what it carries

This is where remote ownership generates real liabilities quietly.

**Rent goes to your NRO account.** Not to a relative's savings account, not in cash. An NRO account creates the audit trail that every later step depends on: the tax return, the repatriation, the sale. See [is an NRO account taxable](/guides/nro-account-rent-taxation).

**Your tenant has a TDS obligation, and most tenants do not know it.** Rent paid to a non-resident landlord is covered by Section 195, and the tenant must deduct tax at 31.2% and deposit it, which means the tenant needs a TAN. Not the 2% or 5% a resident landlord's tenant deducts. This is the single most common compliance failure in NRI letting, and the exposure lands on both sides. The fix is a lower-deduction certificate. Read [rent TDS on NRI landlords: the 31.2% trap](/guides/tds-on-rent-nri-landlord).

**The tax on the rent itself.** Rental income from Indian property is taxable in India whatever your residence, after the standard deduction and municipal taxes. [Income tax for NRIs on rental income](/guides/nri-rental-income-tax-india) sets out the computation, and your treaty position is in the DTAA guides for the [USA](/guides/dtaa-india-usa-property-owners), the [UK](/guides/dtaa-india-uk-property-owners) and the [UAE](/guides/dtaa-india-uae-property-owners).

**Getting the money out.** Repatriation from an NRO account runs on Form 15CA and a chartered accountant's Form 15CB, renumbered as Forms 145 and 146 from 1 April 2026. See [Form 15CA and 15CB](/guides/form-15ca-15cb-guide) and [repatriating from an NRO account](/guides/repatriating-property-sale-proceeds-nro).

**And the bills going the other way.** Property tax, society maintenance and utilities keep running whether anyone lives there or not. [Paying India property tax from abroad](/guides/pay-india-property-tax-from-abroad) and [the remote owner's bill stack](/guides/society-maintenance-bills-khata-remote-owner) cover the mechanics.

## Decision four: the proof

Everything above is a plan. Proof is how you find out whether the plan is being followed.

Four artefacts, on a schedule. Ask for them by name before you sign with anyone.

- **Dated photographs of every job.** Before and after, with the date visible. A repair with no photograph did not necessarily happen.

- **An itemised monthly statement.** Rent received, each deduction as its own line, the fee shown separately, the net paid to your NRO account. A single net figure is not a statement.

- **A quarterly inspection report.** Somebody walks the property, photographs it, and writes down what changed. This is what catches the slow problems: damp, an unauthorised sublet, a dead geyser nobody mentioned.

- **A periodic Encumbrance Certificate check.** The EC lists what has been registered against your property. Pulling it twice a year is how a charge or a sale you did not authorise surfaces in months rather than years.

Read [the honest operating guide to managing tenants from abroad](/guides/managing-tenants-from-abroad) for how these fit together month to month, and [what NRI property management costs in India](/guides/nri-property-management-cost-india) for what you should expect to pay for them.

## The operating year

| When | What has to happen |
| --- | --- |
| Monthly | Rent credited to the NRO account; itemised statement; repairs closed with photo proof |
| Quarterly | Tenant files the TDS return and issues the certificate; inspection report; GST-portal search on your address |
| Half-yearly | Encumbrance Certificate pulled and read |
| Annually | Property tax paid; society dues reconciled; India income-tax return filed where required; POA expiry reviewed |
| On any remittance | Form 15CA, and Form 15CB from a CA where the limits require it |
| On any tenant change | Fresh agreement, registration, police verification, move-in report with photos, deposit documented |

The quarterly GST search is not paranoia. A fraudulent tenant registering a GSTIN at your address is a live pattern, covered in [the GST rent scam guide](/guides/gst-rent-scam-nri-landlord), which now also answers the ordinary question of whether GST is payable on residential rent at all.

## If the property is empty

Roughly two in five NRI-owned properties sit vacant. A vacant property is not a low-maintenance property. It is a different risk profile: encroachment, adverse-possession arguments, service disconnection, seepage nobody reports, and municipal records drifting out of your name.

- [The empty-flat problem: what a vacant NRI flat actually costs](/guides/nri-vacant-property-empty-flat)

- [Protecting vacant property from encroachment and squatters](/guides/protecting-vacant-property-encroachment-nri)

- [Khata, mutation and title clean-up for remote owners](/guides/khata-mutation-remote-owner)

For a vacant asset the operating question changes from "who collects the rent" to "who goes and looks, and what do they bring back." Four documented visits a year is the whole product.

## When the tenant is the problem

Finding a tenant is the easy half. The guides for the hard half:

- [Tenant verification services in India, compared](/guides/best-tenant-verification-services-india)

- [The best portals to rent out your India flat as an NRI](/guides/best-portals-to-rent-out-india-flat-nri)

- [Rent collection services for NRI landlords](/guides/best-rent-collection-services-nri-landlords)

- [How to evict a tenant in India as an NRI](/guides/how-to-evict-tenant-india-nri)

- [NRI property scams in India](/guides/nri-property-scams-india)

Screen hard at the front. Eviction in India is measured in years, and it is the one part of this you cannot fix with better reporting.

## Managing from your city

The corridor matters, because the time zone, the consulate and the banking route all change with it.

[Dubai](/manage-india-property-from-dubai) · [Singapore](/manage-india-property-from-singapore) · [London](/manage-india-property-from-london) · [New York](/manage-india-property-from-new-york) · [San Francisco](/manage-india-property-from-san-francisco) · [Toronto](/manage-india-property-from-toronto)

And the city the property is in:

[Mumbai](/nri-property-management-mumbai) · [Pune](/nri-property-management-pune) · [Bangalore](/nri-property-management-bangalore) · [Hyderabad](/nri-property-management-hyderabad) · [Chennai](/nri-property-management-chennai) · [Gurgaon](/nri-property-management-gurgaon) · [Delhi](/nri-property-management-delhi) · [Kolkata](/nri-property-management-kolkata)

## Comparing the people who want the job

Once you have decided to appoint someone, the question becomes who. We publish the comparisons with the competitor's own public pages cited, and we disclose that we are one of the options being compared.

**By city**, where the shortlist is different in each: [Bangalore](/guides/best-nri-property-management-companies-bangalore) · [Mumbai](/guides/best-nri-property-management-companies-mumbai) · [Pune](/guides/best-nri-property-management-companies-pune) · [Hyderabad](/guides/best-nri-property-management-companies-hyderabad) · [Chennai](/guides/best-nri-property-management-companies-chennai) · [Delhi NCR and Gurgaon](/guides/best-nri-property-management-companies-delhi-ncr-gurgaon). The national roll-up is [NRI property management companies in India](/guides/best-nri-property-management-companies-india).

**Head to head**, where two names are already on your list: [NoBroker vs Housewise](/guides/nobroker-vs-housewise-nri-property-management) · [NoBroker vs 66 MG Road](/guides/nobroker-vs-66mgroad) · [Housewise vs 66 MG Road](/guides/housewise-vs-66mgroad) · [CURA vs PropTech Solutions vs NRIWAY](/guides/cura-vs-proptech-vs-nriway-nri-property-management) · [the four-way including a local broker](/guides/nobroker-vs-housewise-vs-66mgroad-vs-broker).

**By the single service** you actually need, if you are not ready to hand over the whole property: [tenant verification](/guides/best-tenant-verification-services-india) · [rent collection](/guides/best-rent-collection-services-nri-landlords) · [property inspection](/guides/best-property-inspection-services-india) · [letting portals](/guides/best-portals-to-rent-out-india-flat-nri) · [POA and legal services](/guides/best-poa-legal-services-nri-property) · [tax filing for rental income](/guides/best-nri-tax-filing-services-rental-income).

**On price**, read [how the pricing models compare](/guides/property-management-pricing-models-compared) alongside [what management costs in India](/guides/nri-property-management-cost-india), because the headline percentage is rarely the number you end up paying.

## When managing stops being the answer

Sometimes the right decision is to stop managing and exit. The numbers for that are in [what it really costs and how long it takes for an NRI to sell](/guides/total-cost-timeline-selling-nri-property), [selling property in India as an NRI](/guides/nri-selling-property-in-india-guide), and [how to sell without visiting India](/guides/sell-nri-property-without-visiting-india). If you inherited the property, start with [inheriting property in India as an NRI](/guides/inheriting-property-india-nri).

## Start with what is actually there

Every arrangement on this page assumes you know the current state of the asset. Most owners do not. They know what it was like when they left.

Our [₹20,000 Property Health Check](/property-health-check) is one visit by one vetted manager: dated photographs of every room and the exterior, a GPS boundary survey, the Encumbrance Certificate pulled and read, khata or mutation status and property-tax dues, occupancy verified in person, and a written risk report ranked by what costs you most if ignored. No keys, no power of attorney, no money custody. Whatever you decide to do next, you decide it with the facts.

If you then want the property run, we run it in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Gurgaon under a narrow Special POA, with dated proof and itemised billing. [See a sample report](/sample-report) or [get an itemized proposal](/proposal).

*Saurabh Garg, founder, 66 MG Road*

## FAQ

**How can an NRI manage property in India from abroad?**
By appointing one accountable person on the ground, granting them a Special Power of Attorney that names the property and the permitted acts and excludes any power to sell or mortgage, routing all rent to your NRO account, and requiring four things back on a schedule: dated photos of every job, an itemised monthly statement, a quarterly inspection report and a periodic Encumbrance Certificate check.

**Do I need a power of attorney to rent out my flat in India?**
You need one for anyone signing on your behalf, registering an agreement, or dealing with a society or a utility in your name. Keep it a Special POA with an expiry date and no sale or mortgage power. You do not need a General POA, and granting one creates a risk you gain nothing for.

**Can I manage my India property without a relative?**
Yes, and for most owners it is the better arrangement. A relative cannot be held to a service standard and will not send you receipts. A professional manager charges a fee that appears on an invoice you can audit, which is what makes the relationship correctable.

**How much tax does my tenant have to deduct from my rent?**
Rent paid to a non-resident landlord falls under Section 195, and the tenant must deduct at 31.2% and hold a TAN to deposit it. This is much higher than the rate for a resident landlord, and it is the most common thing tenants get wrong. Apply for a lower-deduction certificate to bring the rate down to your actual liability.

**Where should my India rent be paid?**
Into your NRO account, by bank transfer, every month. Cash and a relative's account both destroy the audit trail you will need for your tax return, for repatriation under Form 15CA and 15CB, and eventually for the sale.

**What if my India property is lying empty?**
Treat it as a monitoring problem rather than a management problem. A vacant property needs documented visits, boundary checks, dues paid on time and the municipal record kept in your name. Encroachment and title drift are the two risks that get expensive, and both are cheap to catch early.

**How often should I check the Encumbrance Certificate?**
Twice a year is enough for a tenanted flat, and it is the single cheapest fraud control available to a remote owner. The EC shows what has been registered against the property, so an unauthorised sale or a charge appears there within months rather than surfacing years later when you try to sell.

## Compare and cost

- [The NRI Property Management Companies in India: A Comparison You Can Check](/guides/best-nri-property-management-companies-india)
- [What NRI Property Management Costs in India: The Four Models and What Hides in Each](/guides/nri-property-management-cost-india)
- [NoBroker NRI Services Review: What the Pages Promise and What They Leave Out](/guides/nobroker-nri-services-review)

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Source: [https://66mgroad.com/how-to-manage-property-in-india-from-abroad](https://66mgroad.com/how-to-manage-property-in-india-from-abroad) · 66 MG Road. Full LLM brief: https://66mgroad.com/llms.txt