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Tenants across India's six biggest metros have handed landlords Rs 1.26 trillion in security deposits, a new NoBroker study estimates. Around $15 billion of tenant money, refundable in name, sits in landlords' accounts earning interest for people it does not belong to.
In this episode, host Snigdha Sharma ask what a deposit actually costs a renter, and arrives at a number: nearly a month's rent, every year. The same tenant who pays 2 months' deposit in Mumbai is asked for 10 in Bengaluru, and in Delhi NCR, about 4 in 10 never got their full deposit back.
Renting was meant to be a phase. But with home ownership drifting out of reach, tenants may be extending this loan for decades.
Tune in.
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It sucks to be a tenant in Bengaluru right now
*This episode was originally published on July 17, 2026.
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