Paypal Restrictions for Indian Users
Paypal has announced that from 1 March 2011 Indian users will not be allowed to hold any balance in their Paypal accounts, won’t be able to make purchases from their Paypal account, and incoming payments will be restricted to $500 USD. Additionally all payments received into your Paypal account must be transferred to a local bank account within seven days of receipt.
You can read the official Paypal announcement here https://www.paypal-apac.com/india/
What does this mean for our freelancers?
For employers you will only be able to use Paypal to pay for your projects if you have a verified credit card attached to your account (transaction limits may apply).
What do we recommend?
Don’t panic!
We are currently working with all payment gateways who process payments to Indian users to minimise the impact on your business.
At this stage Moneybookers has not been hit with any restrictions similar to those put on Paypal and Payoneer (see blogpost). However Moneybookers do not process payments in Rupees. Funds are converted to USD before leaving the Moneybookers system.
Payoneer are currently working on allowing freelancers to receive payments directly to their indian bank account (fees apply), but are not currently issuing any new debit cards in India.
We will continue to keep our Indian freelancers and employers updated on any changes.
