'Rent = MBA fees': Bengaluru landlords now ask 10-month rent just to unlock office

Want to rent an office in Bengaluru? Be ready to cough up 10 months’ rent upfront — before you even step inside. For many startups, that’s not a deposit — it’s daylight robbery.

Chandralekha MR, founder of fintech startup Dime, recently took to LinkedIn after a landlord demanded ₹5 lakh in advance for a ₹50,000/month office — a crushing ₹11 lakh cash outflow in the first year. “I was born and raised here, but this number still felt unreal,” she wrote.

While cities like Delhi and Mumbai ask for 2–6 months of rent as deposit, Bengaluru’s commercial landlords are pushing the bar to absurd new highs. And it’s not just isolated cases. A Canadian professional reported being quoted ₹23 lakh for a ₹2.3 lakh/month office. Another founder faced a ₹5 lakh demand for a ₹40,000/month space.

It’s not just the size of the deposit — it’s what happens when you move out. Tenants say landlords routinely shave off huge amounts, citing vague “damages” like wall stains or light scratches. “Reddit is filled with these horror stories,” Chandralekha noted.

All of this violates the Model Tenancy Act, which caps deposits at two months for residential and six months for commercial leases. But in Bengaluru, enforcement is practically nonexistent. “Landlords call it standard practice — and that’s that.”

To be fair, landlords argue they need protection from property damage and unreliable tenants. But startup founders say this level of financial pressure before even moving in makes office leasing feel more like a down payment on buying property — and defeats the very idea of flexible scaling.

With more companies shifting from remote to hybrid setups, demand for office space is climbing fast. But unless rental practices are reined in, Bengaluru’s startup ecosystem could find itself priced out of the very city that built it.