US founders running India GCCs typically learn about India statutory compliance when something breaks, a tax notice, a labor inspection, a blocked filing. Here’s the layer that exists from day one, running parallel to your US framework attestations. SOC 2 doesn’t cover any of it.
Companies Act / MCA filings
Annual returns, financial statements, director KYC, beneficial-ownership and related-party disclosures, board and shareholder filings, all to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Missed MCA filings carry per-day fines and director liability, so a company secretary or CA owns this calendar.
Income tax and TDS
Corporate tax filings, advance tax and TDS on salaries and contractor payments. Transfer pricing applies to related-party transactions with the US parent, a recurring audit focus for US-HQ-with-India-subsidiary structures.
GST
Monthly and quarterly returns, state-specific registrations, input-tax-credit management and e-invoicing. GST is high-frequency and unforgiving on deadlines.
Provident Fund and ESI
Monthly PF contributions and returns, plus ESI for wage-threshold-eligible employees. These are employee-facing, lapses affect staff directly and draw scrutiny.
State-specific (professional tax, labor welfare, S&E)
Professional tax, labor welfare fund and Shops & Establishments registration are state-specific, each with its own rate and schedule. Operating in three states triples these, the core driver of the 2,000-Filing Churn.
Sector-specific overlays
RBI (financial services), IRDAI (insurance), SEBI (capital markets), CDSCO (life sciences) layer additional obligations, often including data localization that overrides DPDPA’s general permissibility.
Outsourcing landscape
Most mid-market GCCs outsource this to payroll/compliance vendors (ADP, Keka, GreytHR, Darwinbox) plus a CA/CS firm, running it through a centralized compliance calendar. How it fits the full program is in the GCC compliance encyclopedia.
Where AttriEdge fits
We don’t replace your statutory vendor, we make sure the statutory layer is integrated with your security/compliance program so nothing falls between “HR’s problem” and “the auditor’s question.” The diagnostic maps your India statutory coverage alongside your US frameworks.
Chain of custody. Drafted by H. Attri · Filed July 18, 2026 · One specimen of the evidence discipline AttriEdge operates for clients.