18 Employer Of Record (EOR) in India 2026

India is the largest EOR market most providers operate in, and the hardest one to fake expertise in. Employment rules come from both the centre and the states, so a hire in Pune carries different professional tax, leave, and registration obligations than the same hire in Bengaluru or Gurugram.

The ground also just moved. Since 21 November 2025, the four labour codes have replaced 29 central statutes, and providers are mid-transition on how they structure basic pay, PF, and gratuity. A provider that hasn’t updated its India contracts for the new wage definition is a provider you’ll be cleaning up after.

So we assessed each of the 18 providers below against what India actually demands: an entity model you can name, INR payroll with correct statutory deductions, onboarding speed, and honest answers on what they won’t do.

Prices run from $99 to $699 per employee per month, and the gap in what you get for that money is wider than the gap in price. Our EOR cost guide covers how those fees are built.

Why use an EOR in India:

• Hire in 2 days to 2 weeks instead of the 3–6 months a private limited company, GST, EPFO, and ESIC registration takes
• PF, ESI, TDS, and state professional tax filed correctly, including the states your payroll team has never heard of
• The 2025–26 labour-code transition gets absorbed by your provider, not your finance team

Why to trust us:

• We research EOR providers across 180+ countries and verify prices against each provider’s profile
• This page was rewritten for the labour codes in force since 21 November 2025
• Reviews are independent and not written by vendors

Top 10 EOR in India: quick comparison

Here’s how the ten providers on this page compare on the numbers that decide an India hire: price, entity model, and INR payroll handling.

Use the arrows to page through all 10 providers, three at a time.

Best Employer of Record Providers for India Hiring

The following providers are evaluated by companies hiring employees in India, based on compliance coverage, payroll capability, and operational fit.

How employment law in India works now

India consolidated 29 central labour statutes into four labour codes on 21 November 2025: the Code on Wages, the Industrial Relations Code, the Code on Social Security, and the OSH Code. The final central rules followed in 2026. State rules are still uneven; Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Karnataka have notified theirs, while several states are still drafting.

Two layers still govern every hire. The codes set the central framework, and state rules add registrations, professional tax, leave variations, and shop-and-establishment requirements. This is why a provider's "India coverage" claim means little until you ask which states it has actually run payroll in.

The single biggest change for employers: the codes define "wages" so that basic pay plus dearness allowance must be at least 50% of total remuneration. PF, gratuity, and leave encashment are all computed on that wider base, so the old trick of shrinking basic pay to cut statutory costs no longer works.

Employment contracts

Written contracts are standard practice and effectively mandatory for foreign employers. A compliant Indian contract specifies the CTC breakdown (basic, HRA, allowances), notice period, probation terms, leave policy, and the governing state. Fixed-term contracts are now formally recognised under the codes and carry pro-rata gratuity after one year, which makes them genuinely usable for project-based hires.

Payroll and statutory contributions

Four deductions drive Indian payroll. Your EOR files all of them; your job is to check they're costed into your quote.

Employer payroll obligations in India (June 2026)

Provident Fund (EPF)

12% from the employee and 12% from the employer on basic + DA, with 8.33% of the employer share routed to pension on a ₹15,000 wage ceiling. The employer also pays about 1% in admin and insurance charges.

Employee 12% · Employer 12% + ~1%

ESI

Health insurance contributions of 0.75% (employee) and 3.25% (employer) on gross pay, but only for employees earning ₹21,000/month or less. Most EOR-level salaries sit above the threshold, so ESI often never applies.

Applies only at gross ≤ ₹21,000/month

TDS (income tax)

Income tax withheld monthly under the default new regime. A ₹60,000 rebate makes income up to ₹12 lakh tax-free; with the ₹75,000 standard deduction, salaries up to ₹12.75 lakh carry no tax.

Effectively nil up to ₹12.75 lakh salary

Gratuity and professional tax

Gratuity accrues at 15/26 of monthly wages per year of service, payable after 5 years (after 1 year, pro-rata, for fixed-term staff). Professional tax is a small state levy capped at ₹2,500/year.

Gratuity accrual ≈ 4.81% of basic

Source: EPFO, ESIC, Income Tax Dept. rates as of June 2026 © EmployerRecords

One ceiling is in motion. The Supreme Court directed EPFO in January 2026 to decide on raising the ₹15,000 PF wage ceiling, with ₹21,000–25,000 the likely range. If that lands, employer PF costs rise for capped contributions; ask your provider how it will pass the change through.

What an employee really costs: a worked example

Take a software engineer in Pune at ₹15,00,000 gross per year, basic pay set at the 50% floor.

True annual cost: ₹15 lakh gross salary, Pune (2026)

Cost line	Annual amount	Status
Gross salary (basic ₹7,50,000 + allowances)	₹15,00,000	Paid to employee
Employer PF at 12% of basic	₹90,000	Employer cost
PF admin + EDLI charges (~1% on ceiling wages)	₹1,800	Employer cost
Gratuity accrual (4.81% of basic)	₹36,075	Employer cost
ESI	Nil (gross above ₹21,000/month)	Not applicable
Total employment cost	≈ ₹16,27,900 (+8.5%)	Before EOR fee
EOR fee on top	$99–$699 per month, provider-dependent	Varies

Source: EPFO and Payment of Gratuity rules, June 2026. PF computed on full basic, the standard EOR practice. © EmployerRecords

Two notes on that table. Statutory add-ons of roughly 8.5% make India one of the cheaper compliance regimes in Asia; the EOR fee is often the bigger variable, since $699 a month on a ₹15 lakh salary adds proportionally more than every statutory line combined. Run your own salary through the cost calculator on this page before comparing quotes.

At lower salaries the picture changes. Below ₹21,000/month gross, ESI adds 3.25% to employer cost, and statutory bonus rules (8.33%–20% of wages) come into play for eligible employees.

If you're hiring support or operations staff at those levels, ask your provider to quote both lines explicitly; the bonus eligibility ceiling under the new Wage Code rules should be confirmed with them, as notification details were still settling in 2026.

Working hours and overtime

The OSH Code caps work at 48 hours a week, with daily hours and shift structure set by state rules. Overtime pays at twice the ordinary wage rate and requires the employee's consent.

In practice, white-collar EOR hires work 40–45 hour weeks and overtime rarely appears on a payslip. Where it matters is operations, support, and shift roles: if you're running a night-shift support pod in Gurugram, confirm your provider applies the state's shift, women-in-night-work, and overtime registration rules, because these are state-notified and uneven.

Probation and termination

Probation has no central statute; 3–6 months is the market norm, extendable once by agreement. During probation, termination is contractual and fast, usually on 15–30 days' notice.

After confirmation, the Industrial Relations Code splits the world in two. "Workers" (roughly, non-managerial employees) get statutory protection: one month's notice or pay in lieu, plus retrenchment compensation of 15 days' average pay per completed year of service.

Managerial and supervisory staff above the wage threshold are governed by their contract, where 30–90 day notice periods are standard, and 90 days is common in tech. India has no at-will employment; termination needs a cause or a lawful retrenchment process, and a sloppy exit is the single most common way foreign employers end up in an Indian labour dispute.

Notice and statutory payout by tenure (worker-category employees)

Tenure	Notice	Statutory payout on retrenchment
Probation (under 6 months)	Per contract, typically 15–30 days	Unpaid salary and leave encashment only
6 months – 1 year	Per contract, typically 30 days	Leave encashment; retrenchment pay once a full year is completed
1 – 5 years	1 month, or pay in lieu	15 days' average pay per completed year + leave encashment
5+ years	1 month, or pay in lieu (contracts often set 60–90 days)	15 days per year + gratuity at 15/26 of monthly wages per year + leave encashment

Source: Industrial Relations Code 2020 and Code on Social Security 2020, in force since Nov 2025 © EmployerRecords

Resignation is the commoner exit, and there the fight is over notice buyout and full-and-final settlement timing. The Code on Wages requires final dues within two days of the last working day; ask your EOR how it actually meets that.

Hiring foreign nationals: the honest picture

India's Employment Visa requires a gross annual salary above ₹16.25 lakh (the old USD 25,000 threshold, now denominated in rupees), skilled work a local can't readily do, and sponsorship by the employing entity. Stays over 180 days need FRRO registration within 14 days of arrival.

Here's the part most provider marketing skips: in an EOR arrangement, the sponsoring employer is the EOR's Indian entity, and immigration authorities scrutinise whether the foreign national genuinely works for that entity.

Every provider on this page should be treated as "case-by-case" on Indian work permits, which is why our comparison table says Confirm almost everywhere. If relocating a foreign national to India is the core of your plan, get the sponsorship mechanics in writing before you sign anything, or budget for your own entity.

Permanent establishment risk

An EOR removes the obligation to register as an employer. It does not make your company invisible to Indian tax law. If your India-based staff habitually negotiate and conclude contracts on your behalf, India can treat that as a dependent-agent permanent establishment and tax the attributable profits, EOR or not.

The practical rule: engineers, designers, and back-office roles through an EOR are low-risk. A country sales head closing Indian deals is not. Structure sales roles carefully, keep contract signature authority outside India, and take treaty advice once your India revenue is material.

Statutory benefits and leave

Statutory leave and benefits in India (2026)

Entitlement	What the law provides
Earned (annual) leave	1 day per 20 days worked under the OSH Code, with eligibility after 180 days of service; roughly 12–15 days a year, and state rules or company policy often add more
Casual and sick leave	Set by state Shops and Establishments rules, commonly around 12 days combined; varies by state
Public holidays	3 national holidays (Republic Day, Independence Day, Gandhi Jayanti) plus roughly 8–12 state-gazetted holidays
Maternity leave	26 weeks paid for the first two children (12 weeks thereafter), employer-funded
Leave encashment	Unused earned leave is encashed at exit, computed on the codes' wider wage definition

Source: OSH Code 2020, Maternity Benefit Act 1961, state S&E rules, June 2026 © EmployerRecords

Paternity leave has no private-sector statute; competitive employers offer 1–2 weeks by policy. Note also that statutory minimums are floors. The Indian tech market expects 18–24 total leave days, and an EOR quoting bare minimums will cost you candidates.

Onboarding timeline

A standard EOR onboarding runs: signed offer, compliant contract issued, employee KYC (PAN, Aadhaar, bank details, UAN for PF transfer), PF and applicable registrations, then first payroll. India specialists close this in 2–3 business days; most global providers take 1–2 weeks.

The slow step is usually the employee's documents, not the provider, so brief your hire on what's needed before day one.

EOR or your own entity

EOR vs your own Indian entity

Factor	EOR	Own entity (Pvt Ltd)
Time to first hire	2 days – 2 weeks	3–6 months including incorporation, PAN, GST, EPFO, and bank setup
Ongoing cost shape	$99–$699 per employee per month	Fixed: accounting, audit, company secretary, payroll software, filings
Compliance owner	The provider, including the labour-code transition	You, across central codes and every state you employ in
Break-even point	Cheaper below roughly 15–25 employees	Usually cheaper above that, and necessary for GCC-scale builds
Exit	Stop hiring or transfer employees out; contractual notice to the provider	Winding up an Indian company is a 1–2 year process

Source: EmployerRecords analysis, June 2026 © EmployerRecords

The transition path matters as much as the comparison. Several providers on this page, Remunance and Wisemonk in particular, will help you form a subsidiary and transfer your EOR employees into it later, with PF account continuity preserved through UAN transfer.

When an EOR is not the right answer in India

Skip the EOR if you're building at GCC scale (the per-head fees on 50 engineers fund an entire entity's compliance stack), if your India team is primarily a sales force concluding contracts (the PE exposure undercuts the EOR's main benefit), or if your work requires sector registrations an EOR can't hold for you, such as regulated financial services roles.

And if your "employee" is genuinely a project-based independent contractor, contractor management at $25–$49/month does the job; just check our misclassification guide before assuming so.

Final Thoughts

Hiring in India is operationally easy and legally layered. Statutory costs add only about 8.5% to a mid-level salary, but PF, state-level rules, and the new labour codes punish providers running India on autopilot, so pick one with real local depth.

Our calls: Deel is the best overall, with owned India infrastructure, days-not-weeks onboarding, and a 4.8 rating across 16,900 reviews. Wisemonk is the pick if India is your only hiring market; nothing global matches its local depth at $99 a month. Remofirst wins on price among the broad-coverage platforms at $199.

Whichever way you lean, read the full reviews linked on each card before you sign, and make the provider name its Indian entity in writing.