How to cost-effectively setup an Indian subsidiary with a nominal statutory resident director?

[YonatanZahavi]

I'm an EU resident with a small internet video-game business incorporated in an EU country. I'm looking to expand to the Indian market, and to accept payments through UPI, PayTM, etc.

I understand that to do this I will need to incorporate an Indian subsidiary and setup an Indian bank account. However, I've been advised that Indian corporations require an Indian resident director, although this person may be nominal.

I'm hence looking for recommendations for an accountant, etc, who might be able to set this up for me (and possibly serve as a nominal resident director) without charging a fortune.

Thanks!

 

[Sols]

No, you don't need to a set up an Indian company for that. Just work with a PSP has already solved this problem for you, like Nuvei, Adyen, or WorldPay.

 

[YonatanZahavi]

No, you don't need to a set up an Indian company for that. Just work with a PSP has already solved this problem for you, like Nuvei, Adyen, or WorldPay.

Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, they all still require a local Indian entity & bank account.

For example, Adyen states:

To accept Wallets India payments, you need an entity in India

and further requires the same for Indian online bank payments.

Likewise, Worldpay has a similar requirenment for local Indian payment methods, stating:

• You will need to have a local entity.
• You will need a local bank account.

I'm not sure if it is due to local regulatory requirements or otherwise, but all of the international PSPs I have checked seem to have the same prerequisite. Whilst I could still accept credit/debit card payments, a large portion of the Indian market prefers to pay via mobile wallets or UPI, and I'd thus be locking myself out of the most popular payment methods if I can't accept them.

 

[Sols]

Strange, I must be either misremembering having been able to use those methods before without a local company or things have changed. Wouldn't be the first time India introduces strange regulations for financial services. Apologies, I should've double checked.

Have you checked Nuvei?

Otherwise, you can look into e-wallet options like Jeton, Ezeewallet, or Astropay where you can accept local Indian payment methods indirectly. It's not the best customer experience, but maybe worth using a stepping stone until you know for sure that setting up a local company is worth it.