Hire employees in India. We handle the rest.
Hire employees
in India.
We handle the rest.
Versatile is your legal employer in India. PF, ESI, TDS, gratuity, and payroll - managed by a team that lives inside India's regulatory system. USD and GBP invoicing. No entity required.
Built for India.
Not bolted onto it.
Most EOR platforms treat India as one country among 150. Versatile is headquartered in Bangalore. The compliance depth, the USD/GBP pricing, the IRS and HMRC framing - none of that exists on global platforms.
India-native compliance
Our compliance team files with EPFO, ESIC, and state tax authorities directly - not through third-party processors. When Indian law changes, we know before global EOR platforms update their FAQ page.
USD & GBP billing
Fixed monthly invoice in your currency. Not an INR estimate that shifts with exchange rates. US CFOs need predictable OpEx. UK finance teams need GBP invoicing for VAT. Versatile delivers both.
IRS & HMRC safe
Our EOR structure eliminates Permanent Establishment risk under IRS rules and HMRC guidelines. IR35 compliance is built in for UK buyers from day one. No need for a separate legal opinion.
5-day onboarding
Contract drafted, KYC collected, PF registered, first payroll scheduled - within 5 business days. Compare to the 6–10 weeks required to incorporate a Private Limited Company in India.
Full statutory scope
PF, ESI, TDS, gratuity, professional tax, POSH Act - every obligation under one contract. One invoice. No add-ons when compliance complexity increases.
Dedicated account manager
Not a support ticket queue. Your account manager is reachable during India and US/UK business hours, knows your team by name, and responds to payroll queries the same business day.
Your India team. Our payroll.
Working only for you.
Versatile runs payroll, compliance, insurance, and people ops end to end. You manage the work. One team to call, one system to trust, and zero loose ends.
You keep full operational control. Versatile handles every legal, financial, and compliance obligation as the registered employer in India.
Purpose-built portals
for every stakeholder.
No need to email for a payslip or chase a compliance update. Clients, employees, and contractors each get a dedicated portal with real-time visibility.
Client Portal
Track payroll, compliance status, contracts, and statutory filings for your Indian employees in one secure dashboard.
Employee Portal
Your India employees access payslips, tax documents, benefits enrollment, and leave policies in one place.
Contractor Portal
Simple tools for invoice creation, submission, contract visibility, and payment status tracking.
India-Compliant Employee Handbooks & Leave Policies
Ensuring legal compliance and setting clear expectations from day one. Every employee gets a handbook aligned with Indian labour law and your company culture.
Finance-Friendly Invoicing
A single, consolidated monthly invoice that is clear, predictable, and easy to process. No surprise line items. No INR exposure.
Your employees. Our payroll.
Your control.
An Employer of Record (EOR) is a company that acts as the legal employer for your India-based staff. The employees work exclusively for you - you manage their day-to-day tasks, performance, and growth. The EOR handles the employment contract, payroll processing, statutory filings (PF, ESI, TDS, gratuity, professional tax), and compliance with India's labour laws across all 28 states and 8 union territories.
This means you can hire in India within days, without setting up a Private Limited Company, appointing an Indian director, or navigating MCA registration. You also eliminate Permanent Establishment (PE) risk - the tax exposure that arises when a foreign company directly employs staff in India under the India-US or India-UK tax treaty.
Versatile is an India-native EOR headquartered in Bangalore. We are not a global platform that bolts India onto 150 countries. Every process - from PF registration to TDS filing to payslip generation - is owned and operated by our in-house team. Source: Versatile India EOR Data 2026.
What you actually pay.
All of it.
Mid-level Software Engineer (L3), Bangalore. CTC ₹15,00,000 (~$17,960/year). Every employer obligation shown in USD - no estimates.
The comparison: Global EOR platforms like Deel charge $599/month per employee - 4× more than Versatile. Others invoice in INR, creating FX exposure. Versatile invoices in fixed USD or GBP. For CFO sign-off, this is not a minor detail.
India-standard benefits.
No gaps.
India's employee benefits have three layers: statutory (legally required), employee-choice (tax-optimized), and company-sponsored (insurance). Versatile manages all three.
Operationally owned.
Not outsourced.
Insurance is not an afterthought bolted on by a third-party broker. Versatile manages plan selection, onboarding, claims, and renewals for your India team directly.
Aligned Coverage
Plans are selected based on your team's demographics, age profile, and city - not a one-size-fits-all group policy.
Predictable Premiums
Stable, transparent costs included in your monthly invoice. No surprise renewal hikes or hidden admin fees.
Simple Onboarding
Employees are enrolled on day one. No separate paperwork, no broker calls, no waiting periods beyond what's statutory.
Minimal Client Admin
Versatile manages claims processing, cashless hospital networks, and annual renewals. You don't touch any of it.
Laptops. Shipped.
Tracked. Recovered.
Versatile manages the full equipment lifecycle - procurement, shipping, asset tracking, and recovery on exit. You don't need an India logistics partner.
Decision to paid
employee in 5 days.
No entity setup. No Indian director. No months of bureaucracy. Here is the exact path from "we want to hire" to "employee is on payroll."
Seamless Client Onboarding
We activate your Employer of Record setup within weeks, including contracts, payroll configuration, compliance registration, and first salary processing.
Kick-Off & Data Collection
System Configuration & Activation
First Payroll
Every statutory obligation.
Under one contract.
India's employment compliance spans central laws, state-specific regulations, and multiple filing bodies. Here is exactly what Versatile manages as your Employer of Record.
Provident Fund (PF)
12% employer + 12% employee contribution to EPFO. UAN generation, transfer processing, and monthly ECR filing handled by Versatile.
Employee State Insurance (ESI)
3.25% employer + 0.75% employee for staff earning under ₹21,000/month. ESIC registration and claims support included.
Tax Deducted at Source (TDS)
Monthly TDS calculation based on employee's declared investments. Filing with IT department and Form 16 issuance at year-end.
Gratuity
4.81% of basic salary provisioned monthly. Payment upon exit for employees with 5+ years of service, per the Payment of Gratuity Act.
Professional Tax
State-specific payroll tax (varies by state, max ₹2,500/year). Versatile handles registration and filing across all 28 states.
POSH Act Compliance
Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) setup, annual report filing, and employee awareness - mandatory for all employers in India.
Strategic support
when you need it.
As your India team matures, you may need more than payroll and compliance. Versatile offers optional support for scaling teams - none of it is bundled or forced.
Employee & Festival Gifting
Culturally aligned engagement programs - Diwali, Holi, birthdays, work anniversaries. We handle procurement and delivery.
Performance Management
Frameworks for structured review cycles, goal-setting, and feedback loops - adapted for India-based teams reporting to remote managers.
Org Design
Role definition, career pathing, and band structuring as your India team grows beyond the founding hires.
Custom Policies
Bespoke leave policies, remote work guidelines, expense frameworks - built for your company culture, compliant with Indian law.
Note: We do not bundle or force unnecessary services. These are available on-demand as your India team scales.
Why not Deel
or Remote?
At $599/month per employee, they cost 4× more. And they don't know India the way we do.
| Feature | Versatile | Deel / Remote | Other India EORs |
|---|---|---|---|
| EOR fee / employee / month | $149 USD · £119 GBP | $599 USD | $149–199 (INR invoice) |
| India-native team | ✓ Bangalore HQ | ✗ Global platform | Partial |
| USD & GBP invoicing | ✓ Fixed rate | USD available | ✗ INR only |
| IRS / PE risk guidance | ✓ Built into onboarding | Generic global | ✗ Not covered |
| HMRC / IR35 framing | ✓ UK-specific | Partial | ✗ Not covered |
| Onboarding time | 5 business days | 3–7 days | 5–10 days |
| Dedicated account manager | ✓ Named manager | Ticket-based | Varies |
| Annual cost · 5 engineers | $8,940 | $35,940 | $8,940–11,940 |
A note on pricing: Some India EOR providers quote $149 but invoice in INR - meaning your actual USD cost shifts month to month with exchange rates. Versatile invoices in fixed USD or GBP. The price on your invoice is the price you pay. Source: Versatile India EOR Data 2026.
When an EOR makes sense.
And when it doesn't.
An EOR is the right structure for most companies hiring under 50 people in India. Beyond that, entity setup may make financial sense - and Versatile supports that transition.
| Criteria | EOR via Versatile | Own India Entity (Pvt Ltd) |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first hire | 5 business days | 6–10 weeks |
| Setup cost | $0 | $15,000–25,000 |
| Indian director required? | No | Yes (Indian resident) |
| Annual compliance burden | Handled by Versatile | ROC, IT, GST, audit, board meetings |
| Best for team size | 1–50 employees | 50+ employees |
| PE risk | Eliminated | N/A (you have an entity) |
| Entity-to-EOR transition | Versatile supports both directions - EOR to entity and entity to EOR | |
How LinkedIn hired a top 1% design
contractor in India and stayed compliant.
LinkedIn needed a specialist design contractor based in India - not a generalist from a staffing agency, but a top-tier product designer who could integrate with their global design team. The challenge wasn't just finding the talent. It was the compliance layer: Indian contractor law has specific requirements around agreements, TDS deductions, IP assignment, and misclassification risk. Getting any of this wrong creates legal exposure for a company of LinkedIn's scale.
Versatile sourced, vetted, and presented a shortlist of top 1% design candidates - evaluated not just on portfolio quality but on communication depth, tool fluency, and culture alignment with LinkedIn's product design standards. Once the right designer was selected, Versatile handled the entire compliance infrastructure: a legally robust contractor agreement under Indian law, TDS registration and monthly deductions, IP assignment clauses ensuring all work product belongs to LinkedIn, and GST invoicing setup for the contractor. The designer was onboarded, compliant, and productive within days.
The contractor is managed through Versatile's system - monthly TDS filings happen automatically, contract renewals are tracked, and any regulatory changes in Indian contractor law are applied proactively. LinkedIn doesn't manage any India-side compliance. They manage the design work. Versatile manages everything else. That's the model - whether it's a contractor for a Fortune 500 or an employee for a Series A startup.
"I wholeheartedly recommend Versatile for their exceptional efforts in solving hiring problems for startups. Their keen eye for talent and unwavering dedication have undoubtedly set the foundation for a thriving venture."
"Versatile displayed professionalism throughout the project within their expertise, and communication was clear. The timeline was always adhered to!"
Your India team deserves a real employer.
Let's map what this operating model would look like for your setup.
Talk to an ExpertEmployer of Record India
Answered.
With Versatile, 5 business days from candidate details to first payroll. This includes contract drafting, employee KYC, EPFO and ESIC registration, and invoice issuance in USD or GBP. Compare this to the 6–10 weeks required to set up a Private Limited Company in India. No Indian director, no MCA registration, no ROC filings required.
Versatile charges $149 per employee per month (or £119 GBP). There are no setup fees. The total employer cost for a mid-level engineer in Bangalore at ₹15 lakh CTC is approximately $20,955 per year - including base salary, PF, gratuity, and the EOR fee. Global platforms like Deel charge $599/month - 4× more. Source: Versatile India EOR Data 2026.
Every statutory obligation: Provident Fund (PF) via EPFO, Employee State Insurance (ESI) via ESIC, Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), gratuity provisioning, professional tax across all 28 states and 8 union territories, POSH Act compliance, and state-specific labour law registrations. One contract. One invoice. No add-ons.
No. An Employer of Record acts as the legal employer in India on your behalf. The employee works exclusively for your company. Versatile handles the employment contract, payroll, and all statutory filings. This also eliminates Permanent Establishment risk under the India-US and India-UK tax treaties.
When a US or UK company directly hires staff in India - even remotely - it can trigger Permanent Establishment (PE) risk, exposing the company to Indian corporate tax. An EOR eliminates this by acting as the legal employer. Versatile's structure is designed for IRS and HMRC compliance, with IR35 framing built in for UK buyers.
Yes. Versatile issues a single consolidated monthly invoice in fixed USD or GBP. This eliminates foreign exchange exposure for US and UK finance teams. Most India EOR providers invoice in INR, creating unpredictable costs each month. Fixed-currency invoicing simplifies budgeting and CFO sign-off.
Versatile supports the transition in both directions. If your team grows beyond 50 employees and entity setup makes financial sense, we help with entity incorporation, employee transfer, and compliance handover. If you already have an entity and want to move to EOR, we handle that too.