Subscription Billing in India — E-mandates, Dunning & GST
E-mandate reality
RBI e-mandate rules shape everything: pre-debit notifications 24h ahead, ₹15,000+ additional factor authentication, and easy cancellation paths. Design signup flows that set expectations (amount caps, charge dates) or first-debit failures spike.
Dunning that recovers
Pre-expiry card-update nudges, smart retries on soft declines (3 attempts over 7 days), payment-method-switch prompts, and grace-period access that preserves goodwill. Best-in-class involuntary churn sits under 2% monthly; unmaintained setups bleed 6–10%.
GST on subscriptions
HSN-coded invoices per cycle, e-invoices past thresholds, and proration math invoices must reflect. Razorpay and Stripe both need invoice-layer customization for Indian compliance — receipts alone fail audits.
SaaS vs D2C subscriptions
SaaS tolerates card mandates; D2C replenishment converts better on UPI autopay. Match the rail to the buyer, offer both at checkout, and let data pick the default within a quarter.
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Written by Commerce Specialist
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