Indian Income Tax: Can you pay rent to your family?

Let's say you live with parents. If you want to pay rent to your parents -- who in this case are the landlords -- you should request the owner of the house (which will be one of your parents) to declare it in his/ her personal income tax return. This will prevent any litigation in the future.
Some individuals want to pay rent to their spouse.

When living with your spouse, you cannot claim HRA. The relationship between a husband and wife is not commercial in nature; a husband and wife are supposed to stay together.
So payment of rent to a spouse will not be accepted by the income tax authorities.