- Equipping a remote employee in India is more than a laptop. A configured device, reliable connectivity and power backup, security tooling, and a clear ownership policy all matter from day one.
- Buy hardware locally, in the company's name. Doing so lets you claim the 18% GST input tax credit and skip customs delays, which is why most India-native setups avoid shipping devices in from abroad.
- Compliance now runs through two 2025 changes. The DPDP Act (rules notified November 2025) and the four labor codes in force since 21 November 2025 both touch how you issue devices and handle employee data.
- Asset recovery on exit is the most underrated risk. Without a signed device policy and a local retrieval process, companies routinely lose hardware worth USD 300 to USD 1,500 per departing remote worker.
Setting this up across multiple Indian cities and not sure where to start? Connect with us today.
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How do you get a fully configured laptop into the hands of a new developer in Coimbatore, secured and ready to use, within a week of them signing the offer letter? For companies building remote teams in India, the answer to that question often decides how quickly a new hire starts contributing.
Remote and hybrid work is now the default for a large share of India's professional workforce, so the equipment you provide is no longer a nice-to-have. It is core infrastructure that shapes productivity, data security, and compliance.
This guide is India-specific throughout: how to source and deliver devices, what a good remote-work setup includes, and how the GST, DPDP, and labor-code rules actually apply. If you also need to formalise the surrounding rules, our guide to a work-from-home policy in India is a useful companion. Let us start with where remote work stands in India today.
What does remote work in India look like in 2026?
Remote and hybrid work is mainstream in India, not an exception. Around 70% of India's technology firms now run hybrid models, according to NASSCOM, and roughly 40% of the full-time workforce works in some remote or hybrid arrangement.
Just as telling, close to 88% of Indian employers say flexible work is important for retaining people, one of the highest figures anywhere. If you want the fuller picture, our overview of work culture in India sets the context. Because so many roles are now distributed, the device and its setup have become the real starting line for a new hire, which is exactly why equipping people well deserves attention.
Why does equipping remote employees in India deserve real attention?
Because the device is where productivity, security, and compliance all meet. A slow or unconfigured machine costs a company its first impression and the new hire's first productive week. Here is what good equipping actually protects:
- Time to productivity: a pre-configured laptop turns a slow first week into a same-day start, which is why device readiness sits inside any solid remote onboarding checklist.
- Data security: a company-managed device with encryption and access control is far safer than personal machines on home networks.
- Experience and retention: good gear signals that the employer takes the role seriously, and it pairs naturally with the wider employee benefits in India that keep people around.
- Compliance and tax: how you buy, assign, and recover a device carries GST, income-tax, and data-protection consequences you cannot ignore.
Those four pressures explain the effort. The next question is practical: what exactly does a remote employee in India need to do the job well?
What equipment do remote employees in India actually need?
A remote employee in India needs a work-ready kit, not just a laptop. Local realities such as power cuts and patchy home broadband mean a few extras matter more here than in some other markets. A clear equipment clause in your HR policies for India should cover the following:
- A configured laptop: operating system, work apps, and mobile device management (MDM) enrolled before it ships.
- Reliable connectivity: a broadband allowance plus a backup mobile hotspot, since a single connection is a single point of failure.
- Power backup: a UPS or inverter for outage-prone areas, so a power cut does not become lost work.
- Peripherals and ergonomics: an external monitor, keyboard, mouse, headset, and where budget allows, a decent chair.
- Security tooling: full-disk encryption, a VPN, endpoint protection, and a password manager as standard.
- A GST-compliant invoice: purchase in the company's name so the tax invoice supports an input-credit claim (more on that below).
With the kit defined, the harder decision is how to get it into people's hands across a country the size of India.
How should you procure and deliver devices to remote employees across India?
You have four practical routes, and the right one depends on team size, budget, and how long you plan to employ the person. In order of how much control they give you:
- Direct provisioning: buy locally in INR, pre-configure the device, and courier it to the employee's home. The most control, and best for security-sensitive roles.
- BYOD with a stipend: the employee uses their own machine against a one-time or monthly allowance. Fast and cheap, but weaker on security and asset control.
- Leasing or device-as-a-service: rent devices on a monthly fee that usually bundles support and refresh. Preserves cash and simplifies lifecycle management.
- A local partner or EOR: an Employer of Record or IT vendor handles purchase, configuration, delivery, and retrieval on your behalf, which suits foreign companies without an India entity.
Those four models trade off control, speed, and cost differently, as the table below shows.
| Model | How it works | Best for | Watch-outs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct provisioning | Company buys locally, configures, and ships the device | Security-sensitive and long-term roles | In-house logistics and storage effort |
| BYOD + stipend | Employee uses own device against an allowance | Short-term or budget-tight hiring | Weaker security and no asset to recover |
| Leasing / DaaS | Monthly rental bundling support and refresh | Preserving cash and easy upgrades | Higher total cost over the device's life |
| Local partner / EOR | Partner buys, configures, delivers, and retrieves | Foreign firms with no India entity | Depends on the partner's coverage and pricing |
One India-specific point drives most of these decisions: buying locally almost always beats importing. A laptop shipped in from abroad attracts customs duty plus 18% IGST and can sit in customs for days, whereas a device bought in India in the company's name lets you reclaim the GST as input credit.
If you do need the import route, our guide on how to ship laptops to India walks through the paperwork. And if you are still building the team itself, see how to hire remote developers in India. Procurement is the easy half, though. The logistics of delivery and recovery are where teams get caught out.
What are the biggest challenges in equipping remote teams in India?
The hard parts are logistics and recovery, not the purchase itself. From what we have seen supporting distributed teams, these are the issues that come up again and again:
- Last-mile delivery: reaching tier-2 and tier-3 towns reliably, and verifying home addresses before dispatch.
- Repair turnaround: service centers and swap stock are concentrated in metros, so downtime outside big cities runs longer.
- Power and connectivity: outages and variable broadband make backups a genuine requirement, not a luxury.
- Asset recovery on exit: the single biggest gap. Companies commonly lose hardware worth USD 300 to USD 1,500 per departing remote worker when there is no local retrieval process (see how to offboard and terminate remote employees in India).
Security is the thread running through all of these, and it is worth remembering that the fundamentals have not changed. As Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson put it in their book on distributed work:
All computers must use hard drive encryption. Disable automatic login, require a password when waking from sleep, and set an auto-lock.
Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, Remote: Office Not Required. Those same basics are what your India device policy should enforce, which brings us to the rules that make them mandatory.
What compliance and tax rules apply to remote-employee equipment in India?
Four areas apply: data protection, GST, the income-tax treatment of the device, and the labor codes. Each sits inside your broader statutory compliance in India, and each is easy to get wrong. Here is what changed and what to do.
How does the DPDP Act 2023 affect the devices you issue?
It makes the employer a data fiduciary, and the laptop is where that duty lives. The DPDP Act of 2023, with its rules notified on 13 November 2025, requires reasonable security safeguards for the personal data an organisation holds.
Any company device that stores employee, customer, or candidate personal data is therefore in scope, so encryption, access control, and a breach-response process stop being optional.
The core consent and notice obligations phase in through 2027, giving you time to prepare (DPDP Rules 2025 notification). Get the device baseline right now and the rest follows more easily.
What are the GST and income-tax implications of company-provided equipment?
Laptops and computers carry 18% GST under HSN 8471, and that rate is the reason to buy locally. When the purchase is in the company's name and the device is used for business, you can claim the GST as input tax credit under Section 16, subject to the usual conditions (CBIC GST rate schedule).
On income tax, a device issued purely for official use is generally not treated as a taxable perquisite, but heavy personal use can be. Our explainer on the GST rate in India covers the mechanics. Document business use in the policy and the tax position stays clean.
What do the new labor codes require for remote staff?
Document the equipment terms in writing, because a written appointment letter is now mandatory. The four labor codes have been in force since 21 November 2025, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code requires every employer to issue a formal letter of appointment (Ministry of Labor and Employment).
Use it, and the employment agreement, to state device ownership, any equipment allowance, and return obligations. For the wider framework, see our summary of labor and employment law in India. Clear terms here prevent the disputes that surface at exit.
Who owns the device and data when employment ends?
Whatever your contract says it does, so write it down. Spell out that the company owns the device, the return timeline after the last working day, the right to remotely wipe company data, and how any personal data is handed back or deleted.
Tie this to your offboarding process and the applicable notice-period rules for remote employees in India, so retrieval starts before the person actually leaves. With compliance handled, the next worry is usually the bill.
Equipping a team across several Indian states?
Tell us where your people are and we will handle sourcing, configuration, delivery, and compliance across India.
How can you keep the cost of equipping remote employees in India under control?
The biggest savings come from buying locally, claiming input credit, and managing the full lifecycle rather than the first purchase alone. A few levers do most of the work:
- Buy in India and reclaim GST: the 18% input credit and no customs duty make local purchase the cheapest route in most cases.
- Lease to protect cash: device-as-a-service converts a capital outlay into a predictable monthly cost with refresh built in.
- Standardise and plan refresh cycles: a small set of approved models keeps support, spares, and resale simple.
- Bundle with payroll and tax: handling procurement alongside payroll and tax compliance in India often unlocks bulk pricing and cleaner accounting.
Equipment is only one line in the total cost of a hire, so read it alongside the wider cost of hiring in India. Once the numbers are clear, the real choice is whether to run all of this yourself.
Should you manage equipment in-house or outsource it in India?
For most foreign companies without an India entity, outsourcing to a local partner, PEO, or EOR is faster and lower-risk than doing it alone. A PEO in India or EOR gives you a few concrete advantages:
- Local vendor networks and INR pricing, with GST handled correctly on your behalf.
- Compliance and data-security obligations managed as part of the service.
- Scalability, so ten devices and a hundred devices follow the same process.
- Local asset recovery and secure wiping when someone leaves, which is hard to run remotely.
If outsourcing makes sense, the next step is knowing what separates a good partner from a risky one.
How do you choose an equipment or EOR partner in India?
Judge them on four things, and ask for evidence of each before you commit:
- Local coverage: a vendor network that reaches beyond the metros to where your people actually live.
- End-to-end lifecycle: delivery, configuration, tracking, retrieval, secure wiping, and interim storage, not just a one-off sale.
- Scalability: the ability to grow the fleet without the process breaking.
- Transparent pricing: GST-inclusive quotes with no hidden logistics or storage fees.
That checklist is essentially how our own equipment service is built, which is a good place to explain how Wisemonk fits in.
How does Wisemonk equip and manage your remote team in India?
Wisemonk is an India-native Employer of Record that treats equipment as part of the hire, not an afterthought. We source, configure, deliver, and recover devices across the country while running the employment underneath. Here is how we help:
- Buy, configure, and deliver devices anywhere in India, with GST-compliant invoicing and input-credit handling, and device shipping and procurement when import is unavoidable.
- Full equipment lifecycle: delivery, setup, tracking, retrieval, secure wiping, and interim storage between hires.
- Compliant hiring and payroll: we hire employees in India on your behalf and run payroll in India with statutory benefits and appointment letters included.
- Compliance built in: DPDP safeguards, labour-code obligations, and statutory contributions handled as part of remote hiring in India through EOR services.
- Support as you scale: from background verification to company registration in India and setting up a GCC in India when the team grows.
If you are new to the model, our glossary explains what an Employer of Record is in plain terms. We are a leading EOR in India, now expanding our services to the US and UK.
Ready to equip your India team the right way?
We are here. Let us source, configure, deliver, and recover your team's devices while we run payroll and compliance, so you can focus on the work.
What do Wisemonk's clients say?
Short snapshots from teams we support, all verified on our reviews page:
Minehub (Canada): needed payroll, statutory compliance, and equipment procurement handled end to end.
The experience has been excellent. They have handled everything from payroll and statutory compliance to equipment procurement, and they are always quick to reply and proactive. - Monika Russell, CFO, Minehub (Canada)
Onereach (US B2B SaaS): needed specialized talent hired quickly in India.
The Wisemonk team played a key role in helping us hire for specialized B2B SaaS marketing skills. I would recommend them to any B2B SaaS vendor. - Saurabh Sharma, Co-founder and CEO, Onereach (USA)
Onform (US): needed engineers onboarded smoothly in India.
The process was professional and very smooth, and we are very pleased with the talent of the developers. - Gear Fisher, Co-founder, Onform (USA)
Frequently asked questions
What equipment are Indian employers expected to provide to remote workers?
There is no single statutory list, but a standard remote kit in India includes a configured laptop, security software, a broadband or connectivity allowance, power backup for outage-prone areas, and basic peripherals. Employers usually document this in an equipment or work-from-home policy and, under the labour codes, in the appointment letter.
Is a company laptop a taxable perquisite for employees in India?
A device provided purely for official use is generally not treated as a taxable perquisite. The position can change if the device is given for significant personal use, so state that the equipment is for business use in your policy and keep the purchase invoice in the company's name.
Should I buy laptops in India or ship them from abroad?
Buying locally is usually better. A laptop imported into India attracts customs duty plus 18% IGST and can be delayed in customs, whereas a device bought in India in the company's name lets you reclaim the 18% GST as input credit. If you must import, see our guide on how to ship laptops to India.
What GST rate applies to laptops bought for employees in India?
Laptops and computers are taxed at 18% GST under HSN 8471. If the device is bought in the company's name and used for business, the GST can generally be claimed back as input tax credit under Section 16, subject to the standard conditions.
How do you recover a company laptop from a remote employee in India?
Start before the last working day. Include device ownership and a return timeline in the contract, arrange a prepaid courier pickup from the employee's address, and remotely wipe company data once the device is on its way. A local partner or EOR that offers retrieval and secure wiping makes this far more reliable, as in remote hiring through an EOR.
Does the DPDP Act apply to data stored on employee devices?
Yes. The DPDP Act makes the employer a data fiduciary and requires reasonable security safeguards for personal data. A company device that stores employee, customer, or candidate data is in scope, so encryption, access control, and a breach-response process should be standard.
Can an EOR handle equipment procurement in India?
Yes. An Employer of Record can buy, configure, deliver, and recover devices in India as part of employing your team, which removes the need for your own entity or local logistics setup.
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