How payments reach India, and the paperwork for each route

How money reaches an Indian freelancer, what paperwork each route produces, and what easylancing must ask. Primary research: research/03-payment-channels-purpose-codes.md. Last reviewed: 2026-10-03.

1. Three landing mechanics (this decides the paperwork)

2. RBI status of providers (VERIFIED on RBI CoA list, updated 3 Oct 2026)

• PA-CB final authorisation:
  • Wise Payments India (inward only, 12 Mar 2026);
  • Skydo, Xflow, BriskPe (GoBrisk), Razorpay, Cashfree, EximPe (Les Amis), PayU, PayGlocal and others.
• In-principle only: PayPal Payments (existing PA-CB), Payoneer India. Under process: Nium (Instarem).
• Not PA-CB: Stripe India (PA-O only; its PA-CB application was returned 12 Jul 2024). Stripe India is invite-only and not for individuals.
• Not RBI-licensed at all: Deel, Remote, Upwork, Fiverr, Toptal, Contra, Airwallex, Revolut, Infinity. They rely on banks or licensed partners.
• PA-CB cap: ₹25 lakh per transaction (VERIFIED).

3. Channel cards (what the product asks and stores)

4. The founder’s flow: client → Deel → Wise → Indian bank

First question: what kind of Wise account?

Variant 1: Indian Wise Business account (sole trader/freelancer), registered with Wise Payments India (PA-CB-I) → compliant route

1. Client pays Deel. Deel issues the contractor invoice to the client (REPORTED).
2. The contractor withdraws via Deel “Bank Transfer” to Wise’s USD/EUR receiving details. Wise’s help page “Withdraw your Deel balance with Wise (for India only)” documents this (VERIFIED).
3. Wise needs the payer details and the invoice for each receipt. Here the payer is Deel, not the client. The flow is “Fix your transfer” if no payment request was created in advance (VERIFIED).
4. Wise converts the money and sends INR from its export collection account (AD-1 bank, not disclosed) to the user’s bank. Wise India accounts hold no balance (VERIFIED).
5. Proof: Wise e-FIRC within 3 business days (~US$2 per transfer + 18% GST on fees) (VERIFIED). The user’s own bank will not issue a FIRC for this domestic credit.
6. EDF: monthly, covering the client invoices. Fill in the third-party fields: Deel (the payer, not the service recipient). File with the user’s own AD bank (default), attaching the Wise e-FIRCs. Map each Deel withdrawal to its client invoice(s); one withdrawal may bundle several invoices.
7. GST: INR from a PA-CB, backed by an e-FIRC, is generally accepted as convertible foreign exchange (REPORTED). Keep the e-FIRC per invoice.

Variant 2: a Wise account opened abroad, or a personal account → risky

• Deel pays into a foreign Wise balance. The user later “sends to self in India” under a personal purpose (Savings/Family). That is not an export purpose code, there is no e-FIRC, and there is no IRM.
• FEMA: export proceeds must be realised and repatriated within 9 months. A foreign e-money balance is not a bank account, and RBI has no express permission for exporters to hold proceeds in one (UNCERTAIN, leaning to a contravention if held long).
• Income tax: the foreign balance is probably a foreign asset → Schedule FA → ITR-3 (UNCERTAIN; conservative treatment recommended).
• Recommendation shown to the user: move to Variant 1 or direct SWIFT; withdraw promptly; keep statements; talk to a CA about past years. (FAST-DS 2026 window: 16 Aug – 31 Dec 2026; see 50.)

Questions the onboarding asks for this flow (and for any multi-hop flow)

1. Who pays you? (client directly / platform such as Deel, Upwork, Remote / other)
2. Where does that payer send the money? (your Indian bank by SWIFT / a payment provider / a wallet abroad)
3. If a payment provider: which one, which account type, and in which country was it opened?
4. How does the money finally reach your Indian bank? (automatic INR payout / you initiate a transfer / you hold the balance)
5. Which Indian bank and branch receives it? Do you have an EEFC account?
6. What document do you receive per payment? (FIRA/e-FIRC / bank advice / NOC / nothing)
7. What purpose code appears on it, if any?

The LLM-assisted interviewer (see docs/product/05-llm-integration.md) can turn a free-text description such as “Deel → Wise → HDFC” into this structure. A deterministic rule table, not the LLM, then classifies the flow as A, B, C or risky and selects the checklist.

5. Risk flags the product raises