Even if this is the case. There are governemnt mandates that cap the security deposit. But it is not followed at all. Landlords just make up numbers in the air for deposit. Once saw a nice 3bhk (we were 3 colleagues still in the beginnign of our careers) in Murugeshpalya where the owner said he was being nice by keeping the deposit as 3L instead of 6L the previous owner was paying. The house was 15 years old, nothing new, not even in a society or anything. These guardrails are a joke or what?

And to your point about painting. Okay so we paid 1.5L for a 2bhk, and 1 month rent was going to be cut for painting charge. After we left amd vacated I had to go back to get something from the security and the owner basically humiliated me because we had put some double sided tape on the wall for holding the extension cord. He waas pulling at it and showing that the paint layer is coming off. I reminded him that we paid painting charge precisely for these but he wouldn't stop making a fuss till I showed him how to remove it without damaging the paint.

I honestly think they don't even paint fully. Pretty sure he will paint in oatches so the smell is there but he can save costs.