Chandigarhculture & etiquette

Chandigarh is administered directly by the central government through an Administrator — a role held ex officio by the Governor of Punjab — rather than by an elected state government. It is simultaneously the capital of Punjab and of Haryana, neither of which it belongs to. The practical consequence is that Punjab law and Haryana law do not automatically apply here: the UT administration notifies which laws extend to it, and on several things — stamp duty, payroll levies, excise, real estate regulation — the answer inside the UT differs from the answer three kilometres away. Whenever you are told 'in Punjab you have to…', the first question is whether the speaker means the state or the city.

Chandigarh, Mohali (Punjab) and Panchkula (Haryana) form a single continuous urban area you can cross in twenty minutes, governed by three different administrations. Property purchase attracts around 6% stamp duty in Chandigarh with no gender concession, and roughly 7% for men and 5% for women in both Punjab and Haryana, each plus a 1% registration fee. Real estate projects are regulated by three separate authorities. Punjab levies a monthly state development tax on income-tax payers that Chandigarh and Haryana do not, so a Mohali payroll and a Chandigarh payroll are not identical. And, on current information, foreigners in Chandigarh and Haryana register with FRRO Chandigarh while Punjab — which includes Mohali — is administered by FRRO Amritsar. Confirm the current position on e-FRRO before assuming, but do not assume the whole tricity is one answer, because it is not.

If your visa is valid for more than 180 days you must register within 14 days of the arrival stamp, filed online through e-FRRO. Chandigarh has a full Foreigners Regional Registration Office at the Police Headquarters in Sector 9, which is a materially better position than most Indian cities, where a district Superintendent of Police does registration as an additional duty. Its jurisdiction, on current information, covers the UT and Haryana; Punjab is administered from Amritsar. Because the tricity crosses that line, a flat in Mohali and a flat in Panchkula may register in different cities. Enter the address on the portal and let it tell you rather than assuming.

There are no street names in the residential parts of Chandigarh. Addresses read '#1234, Sector 22-B': the house number, the sector, and the sub-sector quadrant. Sectors are numbered 1 to 56 with no 13; Sector 1 is the Capitol Complex, and the numbering runs broadly north-east to south-west. Roads are classified V1 to V7 by function, from the fast peripheral roads down to the internal cycle paths. Once you have the logic it is the easiest large city in India to navigate; before you have it, every direction you are given sounds like a coordinate rather than a place. Delivery drivers, taxis and friends will all give directions in sector numbers, so learn yours and your office's on day one.

As a Union Territory, Chandigarh writes its own excise policy, and it has consistently kept duties below both Punjab's and Haryana's — which is why cross-border shopping runs are an established local habit rather than a rumour. The corollary is that carrying quantities across the state line is an excise matter, not a free choice, and the permitted personal quantity differs by jurisdiction. The minimum drinking age has also historically differed across the three, and Haryana has moved its own in recent years, so treat any figure you are quoted as needing confirmation against the current excise policy of the specific jurisdiction you are in.

Chandigarh is among the greenest large cities in India, with wide separated cycle paths, a lake in the middle and the Shivalik foothills on the edge of town. From late October to December it also sits downwind of post-harvest stubble burning across Punjab and Haryana, and the readings climb for several weeks. It is not Delhi, and the rest of the year is genuinely good — but if you are choosing Chandigarh partly for the air, choose it knowing about November, and buy an indoor purifier in September rather than during the season.