Outsourcing web development to India from Germany

IST is 4h30m ahead of Germany, or 3h30m ahead during Central European Summer Time, from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. Check availability on both sides before agreeing on regular call times.

India has no EU adequacy decision. According to the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection, a transfer to a third country without an adequacy decision needs appropriate safeguards; European Commission standard data protection clauses can be used without further supervisory approval if they are taken over essentially unchanged into the contract.

A provider outside the EU/EEA can act as a processor under the DSGVO if the additional third-country requirements are met, for example through standard data protection clauses. The exceptions in Article 49 DSGVO must be interpreted narrowly and cannot be used for regular transfers affecting many people.

India's cross-border and exemption provisions in sections 16 and 17 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, come into force on 13 May 2027. Under section 17(1)(d), when a person in India processes personal data of individuals outside India under a contract with a person outside India, most Data Fiduciary obligations, the data principal rights in Chapter III and the section 16 transfer rule do not apply; responsibility for compliance and reasonable security safeguards still do.

Under § 3a(2) UStG, a service supplied to a business for its business purposes is, subject to exceptions, treated as supplied at the place from which the recipient runs its business. Under § 13b UStG, the business recipient owes VAT under the reverse charge for a taxable service supplied in Germany by a business established abroad.

India treats exports of services as zero-rated supplies under section 16(1) of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) Act, 2017. Section 2(6) sets conditions for a service to qualify as an export, including the supplier and recipient locations, place of supply, permitted payment and the relationship between the parties.

Agree on the payment currency and timing with your supplier. Under India's Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026, an 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; an Authorised Dealer bank may allow more time on request.

Discuss dispute arrangements before signing. India ratified the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards on 13 July 1960, declaring that it applies the Convention only to awards made in another contracting State and to differences considered commercial under its national law.

For most private companies in Germany, data protection is supervised by the data protection authorities of the federal states.

• Agree on call times that account for the time difference.
• Identify any personal data the team will need to access.
• Arrange appropriate safeguards for personal data transfers to India.
• Check the reverse-charge treatment of the service.
• Agree on payment currency and timing.
• Discuss dispute arrangements before signing.
• Choose how you will communicate and track the project remotely.