Razorpay’s recent authorization under the RBI’s PA-CB framework clarifies its regulatory position, enabling it to process inbound and outbound cross-border transactions across over 130 currencies, while emphasising the importance of compliance for merchants.
Razorpay’s cross-border payments business now sits on a clearer regulatory footing after the Reserve Bank of India’s authorised-operator register listed Razorpay Payments Private Limited under PA-CB-I & O, indicating approval to handle both inbound and outbound cross-border flows. The company said it publicly announced the authorisation on 2 December 2025, and its latest guidance urges merchants to check three separate points: the legal entity named in the contract, the exact payment direction covered by the licence, and the eligibility rules attached to the specific product they plan to use. That distinction matters because a platform can be authorised in principle while individual products still have their own onboarding and transaction requirements.
The PA-CB framework, short for Payment Aggregator-Cross Border, was created to bring a previously fragmented area under direct RBI supervision. Razorpay’s material says the regime replaced older arrangements in which cross-border payment facilitators relied mainly on bank partnerships rather than direct regulation. The new rules consolidate earlier frameworks and, according to the company’s explanation, now cover inward collections and outward payments separately. That shift is designed to reduce ambiguity for exporters, overseas firms selling into India and merchants dealing with foreign customers, while giving regulators a more direct view of the payment chain.
Razorpay says its authorisation allows it to support Indian businesses collecting from overseas buyers and global firms taking payments from Indian customers. The company has described the service as supporting transactions in more than 130 currencies and offering local payment methods for businesses entering India. Business Standard reported that the licence strengthens Razorpay’s ability to process cross-border transactions under full regulatory supervision, while a separate Razorpay newsroom release said the company counts international brands such as Airbnb, Agoda, Shopify, Klook and Hostinger among users of its infrastructure.
The practical compliance burden, however, still sits with the merchant. Razorpay’s own guidance stresses that payment-provider authorisation does not remove the need to handle trade, tax and reporting obligations correctly. Businesses still need the right purpose code, must check whether an importer-exporter code is required, and may need to manage GST treatment, export declarations and foreign exchange realisation records. For service exporters, the company notes that RBI’s newer foreign exchange reporting rules have widened documentation requirements, including export declaration filing through the electronic foreign exchange declaration framework within the specified timelines.
Razorpay also points out that the PA-CB label is only one part of the picture. The company holds domestic online and physical payment aggregator approvals as well, but a domestic licence does not automatically authorise cross-border activity. Its guidance says merchants should verify the exact entity on the RBI register, confirm whether the scope covers inward, outward or both directions, and treat in-principle approval as different from final authorisation. That advice is especially relevant because the current framework requires separate inward and outward settlement accounts and keeps merchant funds ring-fenced from the aggregator’s own balance sheet.
For Indian exporters, freelancers, digital service providers and consumer brands selling abroad, the attraction is not just regulatory clarity but also a simpler path to receiving money in a compliant way. For global businesses entering India, the appeal is the ability to take local payments without necessarily setting up an Indian subsidiary. Razorpay’s own materials present the licence as a foundation for both use cases. But the broader message is more restrained: the licence opens the door, while product eligibility, documentation and transaction-specific compliance determine how far a business can walk through it.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
