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What a PEO does in India, when you need an employer of record instead, the statutory costs under the labour codes, and what providers charge. Checked against EPFO, ESIC, labour ministry and provider sources in November 2026.
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“PEO” is used loosely in India. Many providers sell the same service as PEO, EOR or both, and Remunance, for example, describes itself as an international PEO/EOR partner on its contractor page. The distinction that matters is legal: who employs your staff, and whose registrations they sit under.
This guide sets out what PEO services cover in India, when you need an employer of record instead, the statutory costs under the four labour codes, and what providers charge, with figures from our India EOR Price Index 2026.
PEO services in India run payroll, statutory compliance, benefits and HR for your Indian employees. If your company has its own Indian entity, a PEO or payroll provider does this for the staff you employ. If it does not, you need an employer of record, which employs your staff for you, from about USD 99 a month per employee.
Remunance: India EOR and payroll from one specialist team
Remunance employs your India hires under its own PF, ESI, professional tax, LWF and TAN registrations, so you register nothing in India, and passes salary and statutory costs through at cost on one line-by-line invoice. When your own entity becomes cheaper, it forms the entity and moves your team.
EOR fee of USD 99, USD 149 or USD 199 a month by salary band. Recruitment 9% of CTC.
Through Peorient: 10% off Remunance’s EOR fee for your first 12 months.
Remunance is Peorient’s affiliated India partner; we may earn a referral fee.
PEO services in India are the outsourced employer work for your Indian staff: payroll, tax deductions, provident fund and ESI deposits, statutory returns, benefits and HR administration. A professional employer organisation (PEO) takes that work off your hands so you can focus on the people and the product.
How the arrangement is set up depends on whether you have an Indian company. With your own entity, the PEO or payroll provider runs these tasks for employees that your entity employs, under your entity’s registrations. Without one, a provider has to become the legal employer, and that service is called an employer of record. Deel’s India page draws the same line: its EOR is for companies without an entity, and its PEO and payroll services run payroll and compliance for companies that already have one.
In practice most foreign companies hiring their first people in India do not have an entity yet, so the “PEO in India” they are looking for is an EOR. Our guide to hiring in India without an entity covers that route step by step.
You need a PEO or payroll provider if your company already has an Indian entity, and an employer of record if it does not. The rest follows from that: who signs the employment contract, whose PF and ESI registrations are used, and who answers to the authorities.
An EOR is usually the faster and cheaper start for a small team, because you avoid incorporating and registering an entity. Once a team grows, your own entity can cost less than paying an EOR fee for every employee; our guide to EOR vs subsidiary in India shows where that point falls, and EOR vs PEO in India compares the two models in more depth.
A full-service provider handles the employer’s side of the job from the offer letter to the final settlement. Remunance’s pricing page lists what its fee covers, and it is a useful checklist for any provider:
Exits deserve attention. When employment ends, final wages are due within two working days and gratuity within 30 days, under the labour codes (labour ministry employer handbook, page 8 and page 26). Our full and final settlement guide and termination guide explain both.
On top of salary, an employer in India pays provident fund, a gratuity provision and, for lower earners, ESI, plus professional tax and labour welfare fund in states that levy them. These costs are set by law, so they are the same whether you employ directly, through a PEO or through an EOR.
| Cost | Who pays | Rate or rule |
|---|---|---|
| Employer provident fund | Employer | 12% of PF wages (EPFO contribution rates), on wages up to the ₹25,000 ceiling explained in our EPF and ESIC guide |
| ESI | Employer 3.25%, employee 0.75% | For employees earning up to ₹21,000 gross a month (ESIC contribution, ESIC coverage) |
| Gratuity | Employer | Due after five years of service and payable within 30 days of exit (handbook, page 26); the formula is in our gratuity guide |
| Professional tax | Deducted from the employee | Set by each state that levies it, such as Maharashtra and Karnataka (professional tax by state) |
| Labour welfare fund | Employer and employee | A small state levy in the states that run one |
| Shops and establishments registration | Employer | State registration for the workplace (registration by state) |
Registration thresholds matter if you run your own entity: EPFO registration is mandatory once you employ 20 people, and ESIC applies from 10 employees in notified areas. Under an EOR, your staff join the EOR’s existing registrations, so neither threshold is your problem. Our India employer compliance hub has the full list of rules and deadlines.
Peorient is an EOR and PEO advisory focused on hiring in India. Tell us the roles, salaries and cities, and we send side-by-side quotes from India specialists, Remunance first, and the global platforms you are considering. Free for companies.
EOR fees in India run from USD 99 to USD 699 per employee a month, and payroll for your own entity starts at USD 29. The statutory costs above come on top and are the same with every provider, so the fee is what you are comparing.
| Provider | Monthly fee | All-in for an 18 LPA hire | Own India entity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remunance | USD 99, 149 or 199 by salary band (calculator) | ₹20.72 lakh | Yes, in Pune |
| Wisemonk | USD 99, 199 or 399 by salary band | ₹21.29 lakh | Yes |
| Multiplier | From USD 459 billed annually, USD 499 monthly | ₹24.25 lakh | Not stated on its India page |
| Deel | From USD 599 | ₹25.84 lakh | Yes, in Bengaluru (Deel) |
| Remote | From USD 599 | ₹25.84 lakh | Yes (Remote) |
| Oyster | USD 699 | ₹26.98 lakh | Not stated publicly |
If you have your own Indian entity and only need payroll, Deel’s Global Payroll plan starts at USD 29 per employee a month, according to its pricing page. You then remain the employer, with your own registrations and filings. To price a specific hire, use the India hiring cost calculator, which adds employer PF, ESI, gratuity and an EOR fee to a salary in rupees and US dollars.
Employment in India is governed by four central labour codes, in force since 21 November 2025, plus state laws on shops and establishments, professional tax and labour welfare fund. The codes replaced 29 older labour laws (PIB release): the Code on Wages, the Industrial Relations Code, the Code on Social Security and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code.
For a PEO or EOR, that means getting wage definitions, PF and ESI wage bases, leave, notice and final settlement right for each state where your staff work. Leave rules, for example, still differ by state; see our leave policy guide. Our India labour laws guide explains what the codes changed, and the payroll compliance guide covers the monthly filings.
Choose on four things: who the legal employer is, whose registrations your staff sit under, how the fee is set, and how the provider runs exits. Price comes after those, because a cheap fee does not help if the provider cannot run a clean final settlement.
Our top 10 international PEO providers in India profiles each provider, our best EOR in India guide ranks 12 of them, and our Remunance vs Deel comparison sets the cheapest and one of the best-known side by side.
Setting up takes five steps, and with an EOR the first hire can usually be offered within days.
Remunance says an offer can go out the same working day you sign, and Deel says a hire can start in as little as three days. In India, the candidate’s notice period with their current employer usually decides the real start date. If you only need freelancers for now, our guide on how to pay contractors in India covers that route instead.
Yes. Outsourcing payroll, HR and compliance to a provider is legal, and so is employing staff through an employer of record, which becomes the legal employer and holds the PF, ESI and tax registrations. What matters is that someone registered in India is the employer and meets the labour codes, in force since 21 November 2025 (PIB).
A PEO or payroll provider runs payroll and compliance for staff employed by your own Indian entity. An employer of record employs the staff itself, under its own registrations, so you do not need an entity. Most foreign companies hiring their first people in India need an EOR. See our EOR vs PEO guide.
EOR fees run from USD 99 a month with Remunance and Wisemonk to USD 699 with Oyster, and payroll for your own entity starts at USD 29 per employee with Deel. An 18 LPA hire costs about ₹20.72 lakh a year all-in with Remunance and ₹25.84 lakh with Deel or Remote, on our India EOR Price Index assumptions. Peorient is affiliated with Remunance and may earn a referral fee.
For a PEO or payroll service, yes, because your entity remains the employer. Without an entity, use an employer of record, which employs your staff through its own Indian company. Our guide to hiring in India without an entity explains how.
Employer provident fund at 12% of PF wages (EPFO), ESI at 3.25% employer and 0.75% employee for staff earning up to ₹21,000 a month (ESIC), a gratuity provision, professional tax and labour welfare fund where the state levies them, and tax deducted at source on salary.
For India-only hiring, Peorient's first pick is Remunance, which employs under its own registrations from USD 99 a month. Wisemonk is also an India specialist from USD 99. Deel, Remote and Multiplier suit companies hiring in many countries. Our top 10 PEO providers in India compares them. Peorient is affiliated with Remunance and may earn a referral fee.
An employer of record reduces it, because the EOR, not your company, is the employer in India. Risk can remain if your staff negotiate or sign contracts for you in India. Our permanent establishment risk guide explains the tests.
We compare PEO and EOR quotes for India on the same salary and city, check who the legal employer is, and send you a shortlist in 2 to 3 business days. Get a free shortlist, read our Remunance review, or price a hire with the India hiring cost calculator.
Written by
Lead India Employment and Payroll Specialist · 13+ years experience
Priya is Peorient's resident expert on hiring in India. Former senior HR Tax consultant at a Big 4 firm in Bengaluru and Head of Payroll Operations at a Pune-based EOR. Advocate enrolled with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa. Has run state-level registrations in 14 Indian states.
