One of my clients recently had a case which I am explaining below and if you are stuck in such similar situation, here is what to do.
Note: Due to attorney-client privilege, I cannot disclose complete case details or identify the actual parties involved. However, I am sharing the essential facts and legal approach so that if you find yourself in a similar situation, you can understand the available solutions and legal remedies.
TL;DR: A security deposit refund is a contractual debt, not a favour and not charity. If the person who collected it refuses to return it, your remedy is a civil money recovery claim, usually a legal notice followed by a suit, because the police route almost never puts the money back in your account. What decides these cases is the written promise to refund, the payment trail, and the exact date the refund was refused, since limitation runs from that refusal.
Key Facts of the Case
- The client joined a shared flat at Baner, Pune as a flatmate of the principal tenant from 1 September 2025, found through a flatmate-listing platform.
- The arrangement was recorded only on WhatsApp, which stated in plain words that the security deposit was refundable on the day of move-out.
- The deposit was paid in full in advance; his bags were kept in the flat during the last week of August 2025 with the flatmates' verbal consent and no storage charge.
- He stayed only from 5 September to 16 September 2025 and left for personal reasons, with no dispute about the exit itself.
- A replacement flatmate was found within two days and paid the deposit on the day the client moved out.
- The principal tenant then refused the refund, invented a storage fee for the August bags, and never shared the flat owner's contact details.
- Complaints on the state police grievance portal and the national cybercrime portal produced no refund.
- The matter was resolved through a civil recovery approach, not through the police complaint.
Arjun Menon moved out of a shared flat in Baner, Pune on 16 September 2025 with two bags, a laptop and a WhatsApp message that said his deposit was refundable on the day he left. He had found the room through a flatmate-listing platform and joined as a flatmate of Rohit Malhotra from 1 September. The whole understanding sat in a chat: rent, security, refund on move-out, nothing else.
He stayed twelve days. Circumstances at home made it impossible to continue, and he told the flatmate he was leaving. Nobody objected to that. He found a replacement, Sameer Kulkarni, within two days. Sameer paid the deposit on the day Arjun moved out and confirmed in writing that he was moving in.
Then the story changed. Rohit said he did not like the replacement and was returning his money instead. Sameer stopped replying. Rohit began denying the refund outright and produced a storage fee for the bags Arjun had kept in the flat during the last week of August, which the flatmates had agreed to hold free of cost. The owner's details were never shared, and Arjun says he was blocked from reaching the landlord from the beginning.
He filed complaints on the state police grievance portal and on the national cybercrime portal. Neither produced a rupee. He then approached the Chamber of Advocate Sudhir Rao. Advocate Sudhir Rao's experience in money recovery and deposit disputes shaped every step from the first notice onward, and the deposit was repaid without the matter going to a contested trial.
The Direct Legal Answer
How effective are Jansunwai-type police grievance complaints for recovering a deposit?
They are useful for one thing only: getting a beat officer to call both sides and create pressure. They are not a recovery mechanism. Police treat a deposit dispute between flatmates as a civil claim, and a grievance portal entry does not create a right to your money.
Can I use the informal subletting to escalate through the RWA or municipal authorities?
If the building is a registered housing society, the society can act against a member for unauthorised subletting under its bye-laws. Municipal corporations generally don't adjudicate private deposit disputes. It's a lever, not a remedy, and it can cut both ways.
What's the fastest lawful route to get the deposit back?
A firm legal notice, then a suit. Where the refund is a fixed sum promised in a written agreement, a summary suit under Order 37 CPC can produce a decree far quicker than a regular suit, because the defendant must first obtain leave to defend.
Advice in Such Cases
Consult with Lawyer: The very basic and important step to start is talk to Lawyer / advocate. You should not hesitate in paying his consultation fee i.e. might be in range of Rs. 10,000 to 50,000 depends case to case. He is helping you in this situation to come out. He is expert in the domain and can help you explain the procedure which you might have never explored. A good lawyer can get the issues resolved much faster than you think.
Send a written demand first, and keep a copy of everything you send. A WhatsApp message between flatmates is evidence of the agreement. It is not a demand for money. The demand is a separate document — dated, addressed to the person holding the deposit, stating the sum, the written promise it comes from, and a deadline for payment. Fifteen days is the usual period. Send it by email if you have an address, by registered post or courier to any address you know, and if the only thing you have is a phone number, send the same text on WhatsApp and keep a screenshot with the timestamp visible. Do not add abuse, threats or anything about the man's family to it. That paragraph will be read out in court one day.
If the money comes back after the notice, take a written acknowledgement that the deposit has been refunded in full and final settlement, and stop there. Most of these disputes end at this stage because the person holding the money never expected a notice with a date on it.
What Actually Decides This Kind of Case
Three things, in this order.
- The written promise. A message that says the deposit is refundable on the day of move-out is worth more than ten witnesses. Without it, you are arguing about what was agreed in a room.
- The payment trail. Bank transfer, UPI reference, or a receipt. Cash handed over with nothing to show for it is a hard case, and I would tell you that at the first meeting rather than after a year.
- The date of refusal. Limitation starts when the refund was refused or became due, not when you moved out and not when you filed the police complaint. For a money claim of this kind, the window is three years under the Limitation Act. People lose good cases by treating a grievance portal complaint as if it stopped the clock. It does not.
On the facts I was given, the storage fee claimed against the bags was never agreed in writing — the flatmates had agreed to hold them free of cost — so that deduction is weak. The rejected replacement is the only defence with any life in it. If the flatmate can show that the room stayed empty after the client left and rent went unpaid as a result, he will argue a deduction for the vacant period, and depending on the terms of the original arrangement that argument is not frivolous. We have one side of this. He has not told his version to anyone who will write it down.
Summary Suit, Regular Suit, or Something Else
Does Order 37 CPC apply here?
A summary suit under Order XXXVII of the Code of Civil Procedure lies on a bill of exchange, a promissory note, or a liquidated demand in money arising on a written contract. Where the refund is a fixed sum promised in a written exchange, the claim fits the second limb, and the defendant has to apply for leave to defend before he can even file a written statement. Whether a particular chat printout satisfies a court as a "written contract" is arguable, and judges have taken both views. I would plead it and be ready to convert to a regular suit if the court is not persuaded.
Which court, and how long?
The suit goes before the Civil Judge, Junior Division, at the place where the flatmate lives or where the arrangement was made — Section 20 CPC lets you choose between the defendant's residence and the place where the cause of action arose, so a Pune flat means Pune. Court fee is calculated on the amount you claim; the exact slab comes from the state court-fees schedule, so ask before you budget. A summary suit where the defendant does not appear can produce a decree in a few months. Where he contests, the leave-to-defend stage is argued first, and the matter can run past a year. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
Interest and costs
Interest on a wrongfully withheld deposit is usually claimed and usually awarded at a modest rate, and costs follow the result. Neither is the reason to file. The deposit is.
What about the consumer commission?
Some benches have entertained deposit claims against service providers, but a room let to a flatmate is generally treated as a tenancy or a personal arrangement, not a "service" under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. I would not build the case on it.
Where the Criminal Route Fits, and Where It Doesn't
Pocketing a deposit that was promised back can be framed in a complaint as criminal breach of trust or cheating under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. There is also the magistrate route — the BNSS provision that corresponds to the old Section 156(3) of the CrPC — where you ask a magistrate to direct an investigation. In practice, the police read a flatmate deposit dispute as a civil wrong, because the money was handed over voluntarily under an arrangement both sides accepted, and the grievance portal entry dies in a file. That is exactly what happened here. The criminal route is worth keeping for the case where the man has vanished, forged something, or taken deposits from five people on the same room. It is not the route that puts your money back.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I file the case in the city where I now live?
Only if the flatmate lives there too, or if part of the cause of action arose there. A deposit paid in Pune for a Pune flat normally means Pune. Filing in the wrong court gets you a return of the plaint and a wasted filing fee.
Is a WhatsApp chat enough as an agreement?
It is evidence of the agreement. Electronic records need a certificate in the form the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 requires — Section 63 deals with this — and your advocate will prepare it. Keep the original phone. A forwarded screenshot on a new phone is weaker than the device the messages were actually sent from.
I paid cash and have no receipt. Is there anything to do?
The case becomes harder, not hopeless. ATM withdrawals on the same day, messages where he acknowledges receiving the amount, or a flatmate who saw the handover can all help. Say this at the first consultation so nobody plans around evidence that does not exist.
The flatmate is not the owner. Can I sue the owner?
Only if the owner received your money or stood as a party to the arrangement. Where the deposit went to the principal tenant and he never shared the owner's details, your claim is against him. Recovering from him afterwards is his problem, not yours.
How much will this cost me?
Consultation fees in deposit matters generally run between ₹10,000 and ₹50,000 depending on the amount and the complications. Litigation adds court fee, drafting, and per-hearing costs. On a small deposit, the arithmetic sometimes says the notice is worth it and the suit is not, and you are better off hearing that early.
What does the notice itself cost me in time?
Drafting takes a few days once I have your papers. The notice gives fifteen days. So roughly three weeks from the day you sit down with me to the day you know whether this is going to court.
What to Send
Send the WhatsApp or chat export with the refund promise visible, the payment proof — bank statement line or UPI reference — the date he refused, and any complaint reference number from the portal. Two lines about what happened, in your own words, plain, no adjectives. If you have a written rent agreement or a flatmate agreement, send that too, and its date.
Not every deposit dispute has something to argue. Where the money was paid in cash, the promise was only verbal, and the flatmate has gone quiet, there may be nothing worth filing over, and I will say so at the first meeting instead of running a case for two years. Where there is a written promise, a payment trail and a clear date of refusal, the opposite is usually true.
This is general information about Indian law and procedure, not legal advice on your own situation. Every case turns on its own documents.
Send the papers to /contact-us or book a slot at /book. Advocate Sudhir Rao practises criminal defence, cyber crime and economic offences at the Supreme Court of India, and deposit and money recovery disputes are heard at the chamber at Lawyers' Chamber, Chamber No. 86, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi – 110001, on +91 97295 06771 or me@sudhirrao.com. Adv. Jyoti Rao, Bar Council of Delhi D/891/2023, handles family and matrimonial matters and works out of the same chamber.
Advocate Sudhir Rao, Supreme Court of India