Outsourcing web development to India from Austria

IST is 4h30m ahead of Austria, or 3h30m during Central European Summer Time, from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. Agree on call times with your supplier; the time difference alone does not establish when working hours overlap.

The studio’s founder replies to every enquiry within 1 working day, Monday to Saturday, India time.

The EU General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO) applies directly in Austria and is supplemented by the national Datenschutzgesetz (DSG). India is not on the European Commission’s list of countries recognised as providing an adequate level of data protection under Article 45.

Austria’s Datenschutzbehörde (DSB) says that, without an adequacy decision, transfers require appropriate safeguards under Article 46 DSGVO, possibly with additional measures, or an exception for a specific case under Article 49. Check the safeguards for the particular transfer, including whether Indian law or practice undermines them, and document the assessment.

India’s DPDP Act, 2023 provisions on cross-border transfers and the exemption for processing overseas individuals’ data under a contract with a person outside India come into force on 13 May 2027. Under that exemption, responsibility for compliance and reasonable security safeguards against personal data breaches still apply.

In Austria, a service supplied to a business is generally taxed where the recipient business is operated or where its permanent establishment is located. When a foreign supplier has no seat or permanent establishment in Austria and supplies a service taxable there, reverse charge can pass the USt liability to the Austrian business: it receives a net invoice, owes the USt and can deduct it as input tax if entitled.

Under India’s Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) Act, 2017, an export of services is a zero-rated supply. A service qualifies as an export only if the supplier is in India, the recipient and place of supply are outside India, payment is received in convertible foreign exchange or permitted Indian rupees, and the supplier and recipient are not merely establishments of a distinct person.

An Indian export invoice must carry the applicable export endorsement and give the recipient’s name and address, the address of delivery and the name of the country of destination.

Agree on the payment timing with your supplier. Under India’s Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026, in force from 1 October 2026, an Indian exporter must realise and repatriate the full value of exported services within nine months from the invoice date, or twelve months if the export is invoiced or settled in Indian rupees; its Authorised Dealer bank may allow more time on request.

For exports to countries that are not members of the Asian Clearing Union, India’s rules permit receipts in Indian rupees or any foreign currency through an Authorised Bank or Authorised Person. Confirm the payment arrangements with the supplier.

If your business is the controller and the supplier is its processor, Article 28(3) DSGVO requires the agreement to cover documented instructions, confidentiality, Article 32 security measures, and deletion or return of the data when the service ends. Documented instructions include those for transfers to a third country.

For disputes, India signed the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards on 10 June 1958 and ratified it on 13 July 1960. India declared that it applies the Convention only to awards made in another contracting State and to differences considered commercial under its national law.

Use these steps before work starts. German is Austria’s official language, so consider the language needed for your website.

• Agree on call times with the Indian team.
• Set out the design, development and launch scope.
• Assess and document safeguards for any personal data transfer.
• Put the required processor obligations in the agreement.
• Check whether reverse charge applies to the service.
• Confirm the invoice details and payment timing with the supplier.
• Discuss how disputes will be handled.