Pillar guide · 14 min
Indian payroll is unlike anyone else's. PF, ESI, TDS, PT, LWF — each with its own rate, due date, return format and penalty schedule. Add the DPDP Act, statutory bonus, gratuity provisioning, and form 16 generation, and you're running a regulatory project, not just running pay slips. This guide takes a pragmatic look at the HRMS landscape in India circa 2026 — what each platform handles natively, what they hand off, and the price you actually pay (in INR, after GST). Read this before you sign anything.
Last updated: 2026-05-01
HR managers at 25–500 employee Indian companies evaluating their first real HRMS or replacing a legacy system (Talenflow, Excel, Tally HR).
Founders / CFOs looking to consolidate payroll, leave, attendance, F&F, and compliance into one platform.
IT teams being asked to integrate the HRMS with biometrics, Active Directory, GreytHR API, or a payroll outsourcer.
Provident Fund (EPF): 12% employer + 12% employee on basic wages (up to ₹15,000 statutory cap). Monthly ECR file by the 15th.
ESI: 3.25% employer + 0.75% employee for employees earning under ₹21,000/month. Half-yearly returns.
TDS (Section 192): Computed annually against the IT slab the employee chooses (new vs old regime). Quarterly returns in Form 24Q.
Professional Tax (PT): State-specific. Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal each have their own slab.
Labour Welfare Fund (LWF): Half-yearly, state-specific.
Gratuity: 4.81% provisioning, payable on separation after 5 years.
Your HRMS must automate every one of these. If it asks you to "export to Excel and file manually," you're paying for a glorified spreadsheet.
GreytHR — best for 25–250 employees. Strong India compliance, easy ECR, F&F, Form 16. Free up to 25 employees, ₹40–60/employee/month at scale.
Zoho People + Zoho Payroll — best if you're already on the Zoho stack. Tight CRM/Books integration, growing compliance feature set, INR-billed.
Keka — best for 50–500 employee Indian SaaS / tech companies. Strong on performance management, OKRs, hybrid attendance.
RazorpayX Payroll — best for fintech-adjacent startups. Auto-pays salaries from your operating bank account in one click; compliance auto-filed.
Quikchex — best when you want a payroll outsourcer with software, not just software.
GreytHR: free up to 25 employees, then ₹40 / employee / month → ₹6,000 / month at 150 employees.
Zoho People: ₹100 / user / month standard, ₹50 / employee / month for Zoho Payroll separately.
Keka: ₹6,999 / month base + ₹50 / employee on the Foundation plan.
RazorpayX Payroll: ₹0 onboarding; payroll-engine fee bundled into per-employee transaction cost.
Quikchex: typically ₹150–₹250 / employee / month inclusive of compliance handling.
All prices exclude 18% GST. ITC fully claimable for B2B buyers.
Under 25 employees, just need PF/ESI/TDS automated: GreytHR free plan.
25–100, already on Zoho: Zoho People + Zoho Payroll. Tight integration, single login.
50–250, IT/SaaS, hybrid teams: Keka. Performance + payroll in one.
Fast-growing fintech / D2C: RazorpayX Payroll. One-click salary disbursal.
You want it run for you: Quikchex. Payroll-as-a-Service with software bundled.
Day 1–10: Run parallel — old system continues to pay, new system imports historical data (last 24 months minimum).
Day 11–20: Reconciliation. Both systems must produce identical net pay for the same payroll cycle, three months running.
Day 21–30: Cutover. New system pays; old system kept in read-only for Form 16 / audit trail.
Never switch in March (year-end), September (half-year tax returns), or right before a hike cycle.
Employee data is personal data under DPDP. Your HRMS must support: explicit consent capture, data retention limits, right-to-erasure on separation, breach notification within 6 hours (CERT-In).
Auditable access logs: who looked at whose record, when.
Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with the HRMS vendor — non-negotiable.
India-only data residency: confirm where the vendor stores your data. AWS Mumbai / Hyderabad regions are typical.
Yes. The free tier covers core payroll, leave, attendance and statutory filings (PF / ESI / PT / TDS Form 24Q) for up to 25 active employees. You pay only when you cross 25 or want advanced features like custom workflows or API access.
GreytHR, Keka and Zoho Payroll all generate the 24Q .fvu file ready to upload to the TIN-NSDL portal. RazorpayX files automatically. Quikchex files on your behalf as part of the service.
All five recommended HRMS platforms support standard biometric brands — Realtime, Matrix, eSSL, ZK Teco. Either via local push API or SDK polling. Confirm device firmware is current before integration.
Yes. GreytHR, Keka and Zoho Payroll generate Form 16 (Part A from TRACES + Part B from the HRMS) and email it to each employee. Auto-archive for 8 years per the IT Act.