How a freelancer gets paid, and what has to be true first
Earnings land in a balance here and leave it through a withdrawal to an Indian bank account. Before the first withdrawal an operator has to see a PAN and a bank account, and compare the name the bank holds against yours. Nobody checks your PAN automatically, and this page says exactly what happens instead.
Last reviewed 18 October 2026 · 7 minute read
Two questions live here, and the second is the one people find out about late: how money reaches your bank account, and what has to be true about you before it does.
The short version
Money released to you sits in your balance. You withdraw it by naming a destination — a UPI id or a bank account — and an operator sends the payment and records the bank's reference. Before the first withdrawal a PAN and a verified Indian bank account are required, and an operator compares the name the bank holds against your name. There is no automatic identity check on this deployment, and we do not pretend there is.
Where the money lands first
A released milestone becomes a balance, not a bank transfer. That balance is yours, it is recorded movement by movement, and it leaves through one door: a withdrawal request.
What has to be true before the first withdrawal
- A PAN, held on your profile. Paying somebody in India without one creates an obligation the platform cannot meet, so it is asked for before money can leave.
- A verified Indian bank account or UPI id. Payouts go to Indian bank accounts only, which is said before you apply rather than at the withdrawal.
- A name that matches. An operator compares the name your bank holds with your profile name and, where you have one, the legal name on your invoices. A trading name is ordinary, so agreeing with either is a pass. A name resembling neither is refused, because the name the bank returns is what a later question would be checked against.
- Your document, if you have it. You can attach a PAN card, a statement, or a cancelled cheque. It is optional — being unpaid for want of a document would be worse — but with it the operator reads the document instead of taking a name on trust.
The part we do not dress up
Nobody verifies your PAN automatically
There is no automatic check against the tax department's records on this deployment. The verification service that exists is open only to a closed list of institutions, and a marketplace without a registered entity cannot buy it at any price. What happens instead is a person reading the name your bank holds and recording what they checked and why. If a page here ever implies an automated identity check, that page is wrong, and we would like to know about it.
How a withdrawal actually runs
- 1Request itYou name the destination and the amount. The money leaves your available balance and is held, so it cannot be spent twice while the payment is in flight.
- 2It enters the operator's queueA person reviews the destination, confirms it against what was verified, and can approve it, refuse it with a reason, or ask a question.
- 3The payment is sentOn this deployment that is a transfer through the banking system rather than an automated payout API. The operator records the reference the bank returns, and that reference is what any later question is traced against.
- 4It is marked paidThe hold becomes a payment. Every step is written to a ledger rather than only to a status field, so a balance can be reconciled against the movements that produced it.
What can delay a withdrawal
- A withdrawal above a set threshold needs a second operator's approval — a deliberate brake while a single operator exists.
- A destination cannot belong to two members. The same UPI id claimed on another profile is refused at save and named.
- Paying test money on a live rail is refused by design, and this deployment runs on test keys. That is a business state rather than a bug, and it is why nothing here claims payouts are automated yet.
What is deducted, and what is not
The platform fee is taken from money released out of escrow, so it never arrives in your balance in the first place. Beyond that, nothing is deducted from your earnings today. The tax position on payments to individuals in India is one our accountant still owns, so the software tracks what a deduction would need — receipts accumulated over the Indian financial year, and who is over the threshold without a PAN — and deducts nothing. Nobody should read this page as tax advice.
The other half of the same story
If you are the one paying, the same money is described from the client's side: funded before it is worked on, released when it is accepted. That is the escrow page, and the two are meant to be read together.
Questions people ask
Do I need a PAN to be paid?
Yes, before the first withdrawal. It is collected on your profile, and it is required because paying somebody without one creates an obligation the platform cannot meet.
Do you check that my PAN is real?
Not automatically. No service available to us does that, so an operator reads the name the bank holds and records what they checked. Nothing on this site should suggest otherwise.
Which countries can I be paid in?
Indian bank accounts only. The platform is India-only, and it says so before you apply rather than when you try to withdraw.
How is the fee taken?
From money released out of escrow, so your balance already has it removed. Nothing is deducted when you request a withdrawal.
Can I spend my balance instead of withdrawing it?
Not today. A balance here can only be withdrawn, and the copy on this site says so rather than implying a spending option that does not exist.
What if my bank details change?
Set the new destination first. A withdrawal pays the destination recorded on the request, so changing it afterwards does not redirect money already in flight.
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