Power of attorney

What it is

A power of attorney is a document by which you give a specific person the authority to act for you and in your name. The Powers-of-Attorney Act, 1882 defines it in exactly those words (Section 1A). You, the person giving the power, are the principal (the Act also says donor). The person who receives it is the agent or attorney (the Act says donee).

The agent may sign documents in their own name, by your authority, and what they sign is as effective in law as if you had signed it (Section 2). The Indian Contract Act, 1872 sets the rules for this relationship, which it calls agency (Section 182 onwards):

• you must be an adult of sound mind to appoint an agent (Section 183);
• the agent may do every lawful thing necessary to carry out the authority you gave (Section 188);
• what the agent does within that authority binds you as if you had done it in person (Section 226), and what they do beyond it does not, where the two can be separated (Section 227);
• the agent must follow your directions, make good any loss if they do not, and give you proper accounts on demand (Sections 211 and 213).

General or special. A special power of attorney covers one task or a few named tasks: selling one flat, collecting one payment, appearing at one office. A general power of attorney covers a range of matters, such as managing all your property. The law does not use these labels; it reads the powers written in the document. The wider the powers, the greater the risk.

When it applies

People most often need a power of attorney when they:

• live abroad or in another city and need someone to sell, buy, let or manage property here;
• are elderly or unwell and want a family member to handle bank work, rent or paperwork;
• need someone to appear at a sub-registrar, revenue office or tax office for them;
• run a business and want a manager to sign for it.

Banks, sub-registrars and government offices often have their own requirements for accepting a power of attorney. Ask the office that will rely on it what it needs before the document is drafted.

The steps and timeline

1. Decide the powers. Write down each act the agent may do: which property, which bank account, which office, and any limit on price or amount. Decide whether the agent may appoint a substitute; without your permission, an agent generally cannot hand over work they were meant to do personally (Section 190). Decide how long it lasts.

2. Draft it. The document names you and the agent with full particulars, describes any property exactly, lists the powers one by one, and states any limits and the period.

3. Stamp it. The Indian Stamp Act, 1899 treats a power of attorney as an instrument (Section 2(21)), and each state sets its own duty, which can differ with the kind of power. Your advocate will check your state's rate.

4. Sign it before the right authority. This depends on how it will be used.

• For ordinary uses, the power is usually signed before a notary, who authenticates the signing (Notaries Act, 1952, Section 8). A court presumes that a power of attorney executed before and authenticated by a notary, a court, judge or magistrate, an Indian consul or vice-consul, or a representative of the Central Government was so executed and authenticated (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, Section 84).
• For an agent who will present documents for registration, such as a sale deed, the Registration Act recognises only a power of attorney executed before and authenticated by the Registrar or Sub-Registrar of the district where you live, if you live in India (Section 33(1)(a), read with Section 32). If you live abroad, it is one executed before and authenticated by a notary public, a court, judge or magistrate, an Indian consul or vice-consul, or a representative of the Central Government (Section 33(1)(c)).
• If you cannot go to the office because of illness or infirmity, the Registrar or Sub-Registrar may attest it without your attending, after satisfying themselves you signed it of your own free will, including by visiting you at home (Section 33).

5. Register it, where needed. A power of attorney is not named in the Registration Act's list of documents that must be registered (Section 17). Even so, one used to deal with land or a flat usually has to be registered, and some states have made their own rules on this. Your advocate will tell you what your state and your sub-registrar require. The Powers-of-Attorney Act also allows the original to be deposited in the High Court or District Court, after which a certified copy is sufficient evidence of its contents (Section 4).

6. Hand it over. The agent keeps the original or a certified copy. You keep a copy.

Timeline. No law fixes one. A notarised power can be signed as soon as it is drafted and stamped. Authentication or registration depends on the sub-registrar's office in your area; your advocate will tell you what to expect.

Cancelling a power of attorney

You can revoke the authority at any time before the agent has used it in a way that binds you (Section 203), unless the agent has their own interest in the property the power covers; that kind of power cannot be ended to harm that interest without a contract saying so (Section 202). Agency also ends when the business is completed, or when either of you dies or becomes of unsound mind (Section 201).

Revocation takes effect for the agent only when they know of it, and for other people only when they know of it (Section 208). So:

1. sign a deed of revocation, executed the same way as the original;
2. register it if the original was registered;
3. send it to the agent with proof of delivery;
4. send copies to every bank, office, tenant or buyer the agent has dealt with.

Give reasonable notice; otherwise the side that ends it may have to make good the damage caused (Section 206). Anyone who pays or acts in good faith under the power without knowing of the revocation or of your death is protected (Powers-of-Attorney Act, Section 3).

Documents needed

• Identity and address proof of the principal and the agent.
• Passport-size photographs of both, if the office asks.
• For property: the title deed, and the property's full description and address.
• For bank work: the account and branch details.
• If you live abroad: your passport, and the details of the consulate or notary where you will sign.

Typical cost

• Stamp duty, at your state's rate for the kind of power.
• Registration fee, if it is registered, at your state's rate.
• Notary's fee, if signed before a notary.
• The advocate's fee, which varies with the powers, the property and whether registration is needed. The advocate quotes their own fee before you pay anything.

What the advocate does

An independent advocate from our panel will:

• work out the powers you actually need, and limit the rest;
• draft the power of attorney, describing any property exactly;
• check your state's stamp duty and whether registration is needed;
• arrange signing before the right authority, in India or abroad;
• draft and register a revocation, and notify the people who must know, when you want to cancel one.

The self-serve document that comes before it

There is none. A power of attorney is drafted by an advocate because the powers and the state rules differ every time. If the office only needs a statement of facts or a promise, an affidavit or an undertaking on eMunshi may be all you need.

Mistakes that sink people

• "Full powers over everything." A broad general power is easy to misuse. Name the property and the acts.
• No end date and no limit on price or amount.
• Signing before the wrong authority, so the sub-registrar will not accept it for registration.
• Treating it as a sale. A power of attorney does not transfer ownership.
• Cancelling it quietly. Until the agent and others know, they may still act on it.

If you want to talk it through first, a 30-minute call with an independent advocate from our panel starts at ₹999.