Paying tuition to universities and schools in India: a guide for education agents, sponsors and scholarship programmes

Short answer. An institution in India issues a fee note in rupees with the student's admission number. The organisation paying it — an education agent, an employer sponsoring a scholarship, a foundation, a government scholarship office — pays that exact figure to the institution's bank account through Storspay at the mid-market rate for 1% all-in, with the student's name and admission number as the reference, and the bursar sees a domestic credit that matches the fee note, usually within minutes.

Who pays fees in India, and why wires fail them

India's private universities, engineering and medical colleges, business schools and international schools enrol students from Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and across the Gulf and Southeast Asia. The fees are usually paid by an education agent, an employer sponsoring a scholarship, a foundation, or the family's own business — in rupees, to the institution's bank account, with the student's name and admission number as the reference. Storspay is built for those organisations: one payment request from the institution or one payout from the sponsor, the exact rupee figure the bursar expects, and a receipt that names the student.

How a fee payment runs on Storspay

Add the institution once as a recipient (its registered name, bank and account number — Storspay verifies the name). For each student, type the rupees figure on the fee note and put the student's name and admission or invoice number in the reference. A scholarship office paying thirty students pays them in one batch and downloads one statement; each student's fee is its own credit on the institution's side.

If you are the institution

Schools and universities with sponsors in North America, the UK, Europe or Africa can send a Storspay payment request instead of chasing a wire: the sponsor pays, and the institution's Storspay balance is credited. Getting paid from India itself is not live yet; collecting from sponsors abroad is. See Get paid.

Documents, tax IDs and what the recipient's bank may ask

Inbound business payments to India go through the recipient's authorised-dealer bank. The recipient's bank may ask for the purpose of the payment (a purpose code such as P0802 for software consultancy, P0801 for IT services, or the goods-export codes for merchandise), the invoice, and the recipient's PAN. Exporters of goods and services usually want a Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (FIRC) or an e-FIRA from their bank to close the export entry and claim GST refunds — ask the recipient whether they need one before the first payment, and keep the Storspay receipt with the invoice on your side.

How a payment to India works on Storspay

1. Fund your balance in USD (ACH or wire), CAD (Interac e-Transfer or EFT), GBP (UK bank transfer) or EUR (SEPA) — to account details in your own business name. Funding is free.
2. Add the recipient once: their name as it appears on the account, the bank (HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra and every other IFSC-coded bank) and the account number. Storspay checks the account name before you confirm.
3. Type the amount in either box. Enter what you want to send and see the rupees that land, or type the rupees figure on the invoice and see what it costs you. The rate is the mid-market rate; the 1% is on its own line.
4. Confirm. The money goes over IMPS or NEFT and usually lands within minutes — the same business day at most. The recipient gets a notification with the exact amount, and you get a receipt with the invoice reference.

Nobody in India has to sign up, install an app or touch anything other than their own bank account. Everything on the recipient side looks like an ordinary domestic transfer.

What it costs

Storspay charges 1% all-in on payments to India, with a minimum of US$2, at the mid-market rate. That one line covers conversion, settlement and delivery; there is no FX markup, no intermediary-bank charge and nothing deducted on the recipient side.

Rates in this guide are the mid-market rate on the day of writing (1 USD = 96.9643 INR); the calculator on the homepage shows today's. Payments above ₹1,500,000 are split automatically under the local cap, under one reference and one fee.

See what your team in India receives →

Questions businesses ask before the first payment to India

Can a family use Storspay to pay their child's fees?

Storspay is for businesses and organisations. A family business can pay from its business account with the student named on the reference; a family paying from a personal account should ask the school or its agent whether they accept Storspay through their own account.

Does the institution need a Storspay account?

No. It receives an ordinary domestic credit in rupees to its existing bank account, with the student reference you typed.

Can I schedule the next instalment?

Yes. Scheduled payments run on the date you set from your balance, with the same reference, and you get a receipt each time.

Can I pay a UPI ID instead of an account number?

Not yet. Storspay pays Indian bank accounts by account number and IFSC code; UPI handles are on the roadmap. Every UPI-linked account has an ordinary account number you can use today.

Is there a limit per payment to India?

Payments above ₹1,500,000 are split automatically under the local cap, under one reference and one fee — a large invoice never becomes several trips to the bank.

Does the recipient pay anything?

No. Storspay charges you 1% all-in (minimum US$2); the recipient receives the rupee amount shown. Their bank may apply its own inward-remittance charge for issuing an FIRC — ask them, it is usually a few hundred rupees.

Who this is for — and who it is not for

Storspay is for businesses and organisations: companies, agencies, schools, hospitals, facilitators, foundations and sole traders paying other businesses and professionals for work, goods and services. A sole trader counts as a business and signs up in their own name.

What Storspay is not is a personal money-transfer service. We do not open personal accounts, and every payment has to be a business transaction: an invoice, a contract, a fee note, work delivered. Money to family and personal transfers are not what this is, and we would rather say so now than at verification.