Outsourcing web development to India from Kuwait

IST is 2h30m ahead of Kuwait. Government offices in Kuwait work Sunday–Thursday, with Friday–Saturday as the official weekend. Agree on call and response times with your Indian team before the project starts.

Kuwait has no dedicated personal data protection law applying to all persons. Law No. 20 of 2014 on Electronic Transactions prohibits transferring information in an illegal manner without the consent of the person concerned or their representative.

CITRA’s Data Privacy Protection Regulation No. 26 of 2024 applies to CITRA-licensed service providers wherever the data is processed. Covered providers must disclose transfers of personal data to foreign countries and name those countries.

Covered providers must also obtain users’ explicit consent before collecting personal data, make terms available in Arabic and English, and report personal data breaches to CITRA within 24 hours.

India’s DPDP Act has an exemption for certain processing in India of personal data belonging to people outside India, under a contract with a person outside India. The exemption leaves responsibility for compliance and reasonable security safeguards in place. The relevant provisions come into force on 13 May 2027.

Kuwait has not introduced VAT. It signed the GCC VAT framework agreement in February 2017, but the agreement is still under discussion in Kuwait.

Kuwaiti tax law does not impose withholding tax. Public bodies and private entities must retain 5% of the contract value or of each payment made to an incorporated body until the recipient presents a Ministry of Finance tax clearance certificate.

In India, an export of services is a zero-rated supply under section 16(1) of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) Act, 2017. Under section 2(6), export treatment depends on conditions covering the supplier and recipient locations, place of supply, payment and their relationship. Discuss the treatment of your transaction with the supplier.

Agree on payment timing with the supplier. Under India’s Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 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.

If a third party will pay, raise this with the supplier in advance. An Authorised Dealer bank may permit a third-party export payment if it is satisfied that the transaction is bona fide.

Agree on how disputes will be handled. India signed and ratified the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, declaring that it applies the Convention only to awards made in another contracting State and to differences considered commercial under its national law.

UNCITRAL lists India among the States that have adopted legislation based on or influenced by the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration.

Arabic is Kuwait’s official language. Use this checklist before appointing a team in India.

• Agree on call and response times.
• Check which personal data the team will receive.
• Check whether CITRA’s privacy rules apply to you.
• Discuss tax treatment and invoice details with the supplier.
• Agree on payment timing and identify who will pay.
• Set out how disputes will be handled.
• Discuss Arabic invoice and document requirements.