How we research and verify our content

Service exporters make real decisions based on what they read here, so accuracy comes before coverage. This page explains how every guide, comparison and tool is produced.

Which sources do we use?

We rely on primary sources wherever they exist, in this order:

1. Law and official notifications: the IGST and CGST Acts and Rules, the Income-tax Act, FEMA and its regulations, and notifications in the Gazette of India.
2. Regulator guidance: CBIC circulars and FAQs, GST portal user manuals, RBI Master Directions and circulars, DGFT notices and Income Tax Department guidance.
3. Provider documentation: for payment platforms, the provider's own pricing pages, terms and help centre.
4. Secondary sources such as a bank's reproduction of an RBI list or a state tax department's copy of an Act, only when the primary source cannot be reached, and labelled as such.

How are facts cited?

Every number, date, rate, limit and legal reference on a page carries a small numbered marker, like this: ¹. The number links to the exact source in the "How we verified this" list at the bottom of the page, which names the document (issuer, title, number, date and section) and links to it. Pages that change often, such as a provider's pricing page, show the date we checked them.

Before a page is published, an automated check confirms that every factual paragraph has a citation, that every listed source is actually cited, and that every internal link works.

How is a guide written?

1. We define the single question the page answers.
2. We collect the relevant primary sources and note effective dates.
3. We write the answer for a non-specialist reader, with examples from different kinds of service businesses.
4. A second review checks every number, date and legal reference against the cited source.
5. We publish with a "last reviewed" date.

If we cannot verify a point, we leave it out rather than guess.

How do we compare payment platforms?

Comparisons use the same checks for every provider: who can sign up, how clients pay, published fees to receive, conversion to INR, availability of a FIRA or FIRC, purpose code handling, settlement time and the regulatory status of the Indian leg. Numbers come from the provider's own published pricing, with the date we checked; where a provider does not publish something, we say so. Where providers are listed, they are ordered by estimated cost on a stated amount: the invoice at the European Central Bank reference rate, less the published fee, conversion markup, GST on fees and FIRA charge. Where a provider publishes a range, the order uses the middle of the range, and a page names a cheaper provider only when the two ranges do not overlap. Providers that do not publish both a fee and a conversion markup follow, A to Z. Cost rankings, INR tables and calculators cover only the providers whose full fee model we track, so a licensed provider can exist outside them; the list is not exhaustive. Each provider's "Best for" label is a short summary of the use its own pages describe. No provider can pay to change its position. Head-to-head comparison, alternatives, country and currency pages are built from one verified data record per provider, country and currency, so the same fact is stated, and cited, the same way everywhere.

How do the reference rates work?

The currency pages show reference rates crossed to the rupee from the European Central Bank's daily euro reference rates, which include INR. Currencies pegged to the US dollar (AED, SAR, QAR) are derived from the ECB US dollar rate and the fixed peg recorded in the IMF's country reports. Reference rates are for information; banks and providers convert at their own rates.

How do the tools work?

Each tool states its assumptions and the rule it implements on the same page. Calculators run entirely in your browser. Tax calculators use the rates and limits in force for the tax year shown, and we update them when the Finance Act changes.

How do we keep pages current?

We review pages when a relevant law, notification, circular or price changes, and on a regular schedule otherwise. The "last reviewed" date on each page tells you when the facts were last checked.

Corrections

If you spot an error, email us using the address on the contact page with the page link and the source that shows the correct position. We fix confirmed errors promptly and update the review date.