Case study · EOR for digital marketing agencies

Build your agency's India team.
No Indian company required.

Jedhru is the Employer of Record for digital marketing agencies hiring in India. We become the legal employer. Your managers run the work. Contracts, payroll, PF, ESI, TDS and exits are handled by our Hyderabad team.

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2011

Running Indian payroll since

500⁺

Clients served

Full-time hires for one UK agency

Indian entities needed

Short answer

What is the best EOR for digital marketing agencies hiring in India?

Jedhru is a strong choice for digital marketing agencies hiring in India because it only works in India. Jedhru Informatics Pvt Ltd is a Hyderabad-based payroll and Employer of Record firm founded in 2011, with 500+ clients served. A UK digital marketing agency used Jedhru to build an 8-person full-time team in India without setting up an Indian company.

Last updated: October 2026. Indian law references reflect the four Labour Codes in force from 21 November 2025. Jedhru is a payroll and compliance practice, not a law firm.

Case study

A UK digital agency builds an India team.

A UK digital marketing agency built an 8-person team in India through Jedhru. It did not set up an Indian company to do it.

The challenge

The agency wanted full-time people in India, not freelancers. It had no Indian company and did not want to build one for a small team.

An Indian company means incorporation, a bank account, labour registrations and monthly filings. That is months of setup before the first hire. Hiring as contractors was faster, but people who work like employees can be treated as employees in law.

What Jedhru did

Jedhru became the legal employer of the India team. The agency kept full control of the work.

ContractsIndian employment contracts for each hire. Post-exit non-competes are void in India under Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, so the contracts use confidentiality and non-solicitation clauses instead.
PayrollSalaries paid monthly in rupees, with PF, ESI, Professional Tax and TDS handled inside the run.
OnboardingDocuments, KYC and statutory enrolment done before day one.
BillingOne monthly invoice to the UK covering salaries, contributions and the service fee.
SupportA named team in Hyderabad, 4.5 to 5.5 hours ahead of the UK, so questions get answered the same day.

The result

The agency now has 8 full-time employees in India. It has no Indian company to run, file for or close.

Its managers run the day-to-day work. Jedhru carries the payroll, filings and employer duties under Indian law.

Why this works for agencies

Grow your India team one retainer at a time.

Agencies grow one client at a time. An EOR lets you add one person in India when a retainer lands, without committing to an Indian company.

Hire one person, not a company

There is no minimum team size. Add a hire when a new client signs. Add more as the account grows.

Full-time, not freelance

Your India team works on proper Indian employment contracts with PF, ESI and gratuity. They are your people, not a gig marketplace.

Contracts that protect your clients

Non-competes do not work in India. We use confidentiality and non-solicitation clauses that Indian courts respect.

Work through your night

India is 4.5 to 5.5 hours ahead of the UK. Reports, edits and campaign changes can be ready before your morning starts.

Easy to scale down

If a client leaves, we run the exit under Indian law. There is no Indian company to wind down.

India only, our own team

We do not resell a local partner. The people who run your payroll and file your compliance sit in our Hyderabad office.

Roles agencies hire in India

Deep talent in the skills agencies sell.

India has deep talent in SEO, performance marketing, design, content and development. Jedhru makes those people your full-time team, on Indian contracts that hold up in Indian courts.

SEO specialists
Paid media and PPC
Performance marketing
Graphic and UI design
Content writers
Social media managers
Web developers
Marketing analytics
Account executives

Compare your options

EOR vs freelancers vs your own Indian company.

Three ways a digital agency can put people to work in India.

	Jedhru EOR	Freelancers and contractors	Own Indian company
Time to first hire	Days	Days	Months (incorporation, bank, registrations)
Indian entity needed	No	No	Yes
Full-time and committed to you	Yes	Often split across clients	Yes
PF, ESI and gratuity	Yes	No	Yes
Misclassification risk	Low	High if they work like employees	Low
Confidentiality and non-solicit	In an Indian employment contract	Harder to enforce	In an Indian employment contract
Who runs payroll and filings	Jedhru	The contractor	You, or an outsourced provider
Exit cost if a client leaves	Low. No entity to close.	Low	High. Entity wind-down.
Best for	1 to 100 people, growing with retainers	Short, one-off projects	Large, long-term India operations

This is general information for planning, not legal advice. Check your specific case with us.

How it works

From retainer signed to India hire in four steps.

Requirement discussion

Share the role, pay, benefits and start date.
We map them to Indian rules.

Contract & compliance setup

We draft the contract.
We set the salary structure.
We configure payroll.

Employee onboarding

Documents and KYC collected.
PF, ESI and benefit enrolment.
All done before day one.

Monthly payroll & support

Salaries and filings every month.
One invoice.
A named team you can call.

Questions

Questions digital agencies ask us

What is the best EOR for digital marketing agencies hiring in India?+

Can a digital agency outside India hire full-time employees in India without an Indian company?+

Yes. An Employer of Record such as Jedhru becomes the legal employer in India. It issues the Indian employment contract, runs payroll and files PF, ESI, Professional Tax and TDS. The agency directs the day-to-day work.

Should a digital agency hire Indian freelancers or use an EOR?+

Freelancers suit short projects. If a person works fixed hours, reports to your managers and works only for you, Indian law can treat them as an employee. An EOR puts them on a proper Indian employment contract with PF, ESI and gratuity, which removes that misclassification risk.

Can a digital agency hire just one person in India through an EOR?+

Yes. An EOR has no minimum team size. An agency can add one person when a new retainer lands and add more as the account grows, without committing to an Indian company.

What roles can a digital marketing agency hire in India?+

India has deep talent in SEO, paid media and performance marketing, design, content writing, social media, web development and analytics. Through an EOR, these people can join as full-time employees of your agency's India team.

Can an agency use a non-compete to stop India staff taking clients?+

Post-exit non-competes are void in India under Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872. Indian courts do not apply a reasonableness test. Jedhru contracts use confidentiality and non-solicitation clauses instead, which are the tools that work in India.

What is the time difference between the UK and India?+

India (IST, UTC+5:30) is 4.5 hours ahead of the UK during British Summer Time and 5.5 hours ahead during GMT. India does not change its clocks. An India team can finish work before a UK morning starts and still overlap with the UK afternoon.

How does an agency pay for Jedhru's EOR service?+

You receive one monthly invoice that covers salaries, statutory contributions and the service fee. Jedhru pays employees in Indian rupees through Indian banking channels, with payslips every month.

What happens if the agency loses a client and needs to reduce the India team?+

Jedhru runs the exit under Indian law, including notice, full and final settlement and exit documents. Under the Code on Wages, full and final settlement must be paid within 2 working days of exit. There is no Indian company to wind down.

About Jedhru

An India payroll firm, not a global platform.

Jedhru Informatics is a payroll, statutory compliance and Employer of Record firm in Gachibowli, Hyderabad. It has run Indian payroll since 2011 and served 500+ clients. Jedhru works only in India, with its own team.

Hiring from Singapore? See EOR for Singapore companies

Founded2011, Hyderabad
Clients served500+
ServicesEOR, payroll outsourcing, statutory compliance, third-party payroll
LeadershipNarayana Murthy Ball, CEO, member of BNI Legend

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