If an NRI from Australia wants to sell his property in India, are there any rules stating that the general power of attorney is possible to only blood relatives?

No

General power of attorney (GPA) is possible to anyone but there are few consequences for issuing GPA to non-blood relative

NRI Buying:

As an NRI, when you buy a property in India, you can give GPA to anyone that includes blood and non-blood relatives.

Blood relatives: Father, Mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, children,

Non-blood relative: cousin, friend, colleague, advocate, or broker

The stamp duty for GPA adjudication in India is just Rs. 200/-(for buying property)

NRI Selling:

As an NRI, when you sell a property in india, you can give GPA to anyone that includes blood and non-blood relative

The stamp duty for blood relatives is Rs. 200

The stamp duty for non-blood relatives is 5% of property value, which is very huge expense.

For example: Every property in India has government value irrespective of property type (flat, land, independent house, factory, shop, etc..)

Let's consider that you want to sell 3BHK flat in Bangalore India, the government value of the property is Rs. 55 lakh

You have to pay the stamp duty of Rs. 55 lakh X 5% = 2,75,000/- at the time of GPA adjudication (if you give GPA to non-blood relative)

The difference in stamp duty is huge for blood and non-blood relatives. For blood relatives, the stamp duty is just Rs. 200. For non-blood relatives, the stamp duty is 5% of property value

Most officials including sub-registrar, bank and your advocate ask you to issue GPA to blood relative to avoid hefty stamp duty and also blood relative considered as trustworthy.

So to answer your question, you can give GPA to anyone but you have to bear the stamp duty accordingly for blood or non-blood relative.

We provide end-to-end assistance to obtain GPA for blood and non-blood relatives.

To opt for our service, please WhatsApp to + 9 1 - 9 7 4 2 4 7 9 0 2 0.

All the very best for your sale process…