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Payment Service Providers at GIFT IFSC
Single certificate of authorisation covering five enumerated payment services. Light-touch capital (USD 100k commencement; USD 200k by FY3). Benchmarked against the Singapore PSA 2019, UK PSRs 2017 and EU PSD2. INR holding in e-wallets prohibited; escrow funds must sit in an IBU or IBC. First in-principle approvals: Infibeam Avenues (Oct 2025) and EbixCash World Money (Jan 2026).
Which payment services need authorisation, and on what conditions?
Payment service providers in GIFT IFSC are authorised under the IFSCA (Payment Services) Regulations, 2024, for services such as cross-border money transfer, merchant acquisition and e-money issuance.
Payment Services - The Practitioner's Booklet
A treatise-grade working reference on the licensing, capital, conduct-of-business and tax framework for Payment Services at GIFT IFSC - every conclusion anchored in verbatim statutory and regulatory text.
The case for Payment Services - before the rulebook.
GIFT IFSC competes head-on with Singapore, Dubai and Mauritius - on tax, on currency, and on access to India. Here is what actually moves the decision, before the regulatory detail below.
A 20-year tax holiday
100% deduction on business income for any 20 consecutive years in a 25-year block under Section 147 of the Income-tax Act 2025 (Finance Act 2026), then a 15% concessional rate. MAT capped at 9%.
US-dollar, offshore by law
An IFSC unit is treated as a person resident outside India under FEMA - raise, hold and transact in USD / EUR / GBP, with full foreign-currency freedom and no rupee-conversion drag.
100% foreign & NRI capital
Foreign and NRI investors can hold up to 100% - without the aggregate ownership caps that constrain comparable onshore vehicles.
An on-ramp to India
Unlike a purely offshore hub, GIFT IFSC sits on Indian soil and aligns with national policy - an offshore base that is also a door into one of the world's largest growth markets.
Zero STT, CTT & stamp duty
IFSC-exchange transactions are free of Securities and Commodity Transaction Tax and stamp duty; services rendered by IFSC units are zero-rated for GST.
One regulator, India's rule of law
A single unified regulator (IFSCA) under the IFSCA Act 2019, an independent judiciary, and a treaty-anchored legal order - certainty, not just headline rates.
The opportunity is real, but every benefit carries a condition - and that is where counsel at the threshold earns its place.
The framework - at a glance
Payment Service Provider Category Selector
Map service offering, customer type, funds-holding model and geographic scope to the applicable IFSCA PSP category, net-worth tier, sandbox eligibility, and RBI / FEMA / FATF Travel Rule flags.
IFSCA (Payment Services) Regulations 2024 (Notification IFSCA/GN/2024/002 dated 29 January 2024, consolidated 23 April 2024). Indicative only - not legal advice.
Related reading
- Booklet XX - Payment Service Providers at GIFT IFSC (PDF, May 2026) · Full Firm handbook.
- IFSC Banking Units · Escrow funds must sit in an IBU or IBC; PSP-IBU relationship is operationally central.
- FinTech Entity · PSP applicants at proof-of-concept stage typically route through the FinTech Regulatory Sandbox / Innovation Sandbox.
- Resources page · IFSCA PS Regulations 2024; RBI PA-CB Circular; FATF Recommendation 16.