The customary rates for sales and rentals, the GST on top, what’s genuinely negotiable and what isn’t — and, written by a brokerage, an honest account of what the fee is supposed to earn.
By long-standing custom — there is no statutory rate — brokerage on a Delhi sale is 1% of the deal value from each side, buyer and seller — treat it as the market’s floor, not an opening bid. On rentals, the norm is one month’s rent (30 days) from each side. Registered brokers add 18% GST on the fee. Everything is contractual: the rate, who pays, and when it falls due should be agreed in writing before the broker introduces the property or the party — which is also how you avoid the classic disputes.
We are a brokerage writing about brokerage, so let us declare the interest and then be more honest than the internet usually is on this subject. Commission in Delhi is pure custom — negotiable, occasionally abused, and frequently misunderstood in both directions: buyers resent it without knowing what a good broker actually carries, and brokers quote it without ever specifying what it covers. Here is the market standard, the mechanics, and the test for whether a fee is being earned.
| Transaction | Customary brokerage | Who pays | When it falls due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sale / purchase (resale) | 1% of deal value per side | Buyer and seller each pay their broker | Customarily at registration / closing |
| High-value luxury deals | 1% per side — the standard holds at the top end | Each side | At closing; large deals sometimes stage it |
| Rental (residential) | 1 month’s rent per side | Landlord and tenant each | On execution of the rent agreement |
| Lease renewal | Nil to half the original fee — agree upfront | Per the original terms | At renewal |
| New builder inventory | Paid by the builder/developer, not the buyer | Developer | Per the channel agreement |
Three mechanics worth knowing. GST: a GST-registered broker must charge 18% on the fee and give you a tax invoice — an invoice you should want, since it papers the payment. RERA: real estate agents dealing in RERA-registered projects must themselves be registered under RERA; for the resale colony market that dominates South Delhi, the honest markers are different — an office you can find, deals you can reference, and terms in writing. Dual agency: in Delhi practice one broker frequently acts for both sides and collects from both; that is customary, but you are entitled to know it — ask directly who else is paying your broker on the deal.
On a ₹10 crore floor, 1% is ₹10 lakh — real money, and it should purchase real work. The fee, properly earned, covers: pricing off closed transactions rather than portal ambitions (the discipline our seller’s guide describes); access to genuine counterparties — in this market the best floors and the best buyers move through client books, not listings; deal shepherding through the agreement-to-deed sequence, the buyer’s diligence on our 21-point checklist, TDS mechanics and the registration process; and negotiation cover — someone whose job is to keep two principals from killing a good deal over a curtain rod. A broker who provides a phone number and a gate key has not earned 1%; a broker who runs that list has.
Rate, GST treatment, what services are included, and exclusivity (if any) — by email or a one-page mandate, before introductions happen.
Commission is customarily earned at closing — registration for a sale, the signed rent agreement for a tenancy. Say so explicitly, including what happens if the deal falls through after the agreement to sell.
If one broker acts for buyer and seller, both principals should know. Transparency here is the difference between custom and conflict.
A GST invoice and a bank transfer protect both sides — and fit the clean, full-value deal standard that runs through everything else we publish.
First, the undisclosed spread — a broker quoting the seller one price and the buyer another, pocketing the difference on top of commission. Insist that offers pass through in writing. Second, the success-fee ambush — a demand surfacing at the registry table that was never agreed. Both are cured by the same medicine: terms in writing before the first site visit. Any broker who resists writing down their own fee is telling you how they intend to earn it.
Commission isn’t for opening the door. It’s for everything that has to go right after it opens.
No. There is no statutory brokerage rate for property deals in Delhi — the ~1% per side on sales and one month’s rent on tenancies are market custom — and while terms are contractual, 1% is the floor the market works on, not a starting point for discounts. Which is exactly why the terms belong in writing.
By custom, each side pays its own broker about 1%. Where one broker acts for both sides, both customarily pay — and both are entitled to know the broker is being paid twice.
One month’s rent (30 days) from each side, payable when the rent agreement is signed. Renewal fees vary from nil to half the original — settle that at the outset too.
Yes — a GST-registered broker charges 18% on the commission and issues a tax invoice. The invoice is your friend: it documents the payment and the service.
The rate holds at 1% per side across the market, including South Delhi’s luxury deals — the fee scales with the deal, and so does the work behind it. What is genuinely negotiable is scope: exclusivity, marketing commitments, staged payment on very large transactions. Settle all of it before engagement, not at the registry.
Custom says at closing — registration of the sale deed, or execution of the rent agreement. Define it expressly, including the position if a deal collapses between the agreement to sell and the registry.
Agents dealing in RERA-registered projects must be RERA-registered. Most of South Delhi’s resale colony market sits outside RERA’s project net, so judge resale brokers on verifiable markers: an office, referenceable deals, written terms and clean invoicing.
You can, and for a simple deal between well-advised parties it works. What you give up is access to unlisted inventory and buyers, price evidence from closed deals, and a professional between the principals when negotiations wobble — the things that, done properly, are worth more than the fee.
Decline, in writing, and rely on whatever was agreed — which is why the one-page written mandate matters. Absent an agreement, a claim rests on custom and quantum meruit, both of which are far weaker than a signature.
Typically no — on fresh builder stock the developer pays the channel commission, and the buyer’s price is the same with or without a broker. On resale, custom reverts to each side paying its own.
Rate, scope and trigger on one page — then we go to work: real comparables, vetted counterparties, and a deal shepherded to the registry. That’s what the fee is for.
Rates described are Delhi market custom as of July 2026, not statutory tariffs; individual engagements vary by agreement. GST treatment follows the broker’s registration status under GST law. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.
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