Work-from-home approvals, staff caps and laptop records for SEZ tech units
TL;DR Awayroll is compliance software for IT and ITeS units inside Special Economic Zones that let staff work from home. It tracks who is approved, the 50% cap, renewal dates, attendance records and every laptop moved out of the zone. Unit finance and admin teams pay a yearly fee per unit.
SEZ units get tax and duty benefits, so working from home isn't a simple HR call for them. Since July 2022, Rule 43A of the SEZ Rules has required a unit to get the Development Commissioner's approval before staff work outside the zone[1]. The approval lasts a year, generally covers no more than half the workforce including contract staff, and must be applied for at least 15 days ahead[1][2].
The unit must keep attendance records for the whole period and hand them over when asked. Laptops and VPN gear can leave the zone duty-free only with the Specified Officer's permission and only while the approval runs[1]. Most units track all this in spreadsheets kept by one admin person, and staff turnover breaks those spreadsheets fast.
What it does, in regulatory terms: record-keeping and reminder software only. Awayroll does not grant, guarantee or file approvals on its own. The Development Commissioner decides, and the unit stays responsible for what it submits.
Awayroll connects to the unit's HR system and attendance data. It keeps a live list of employees tagged to approved projects, warns when the share working from home gets close to the approved cap and flags renewals 30 days before the 15-day filing deadline. It logs every laptop and network device taken out of the zone against the person and the approval period, and lists what must come back when an approval lapses or someone leaves. At any time it can produce the attendance report and asset register in the form a unit would hand to the Development Commissioner's office.
The seed pitched general security and audit automation for remote work. That market is crowded with global tools, so we narrowed it to one Indian rule that every SEZ tech unit with remote staff must follow.
The users are the unit's admin, finance and HR teams. The buyer is usually the finance controller or the head of the SEZ unit, the person who answers for the zone benefits. I'd go with a yearly fee per unit plus a setup fee for connecting HR systems. We found no public price for comparable SEZ compliance tools, so test the price in early calls. Customs brokers and CA firms that already file SEZ paperwork are a second channel.
Rule 43A came into force on 14 July 2022, with a standard procedure issued that August[2]. Approvals run a year at a time, so every unit renews every year. Hybrid work has settled in India, with 36% of employees hybrid and 14% fully remote in 2025[3], which keeps the cap and the asset records in constant use.
We couldn't fetch a current count of IT and ITeS SEZ units, so there's no verified market figure here. Check the official SEZ factsheet before you size it[4]. The demand case rests on a rule that applies to every such unit with remote staff[1]. For adjacent context, half of Indian employees now work off-site at least part of the week[3].
Compliance-calendar tools from Indian payroll and labour-law firms remind companies of filing dates, but we found none that tracks Rule 43A's cap, tagging and equipment movement together. Global employer-of-record platforms handle device shipping and recovery for remote staff[5], without any SEZ customs logic. Many units lean on their customs broker or CA, and that's where your opening is.
| Difficulty | Moderate (37/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹50–90 L |
| Time to launch | 5–8 months |
The software is ordinary. The tricky parts are reading how different Development Commissioner offices apply the rule, connecting to messy HR and attendance systems and earning the trust of finance teams who fear an audit. Expect long sales cycles timed to each unit's renewal date.
The software itself needs no licence. Your customers' approvals are the regulated part, and Awayroll only keeps the records.
Building this outside India? The categories above usually have a local equivalent, so check with your own regulator.
Don't let AI decide whether a unit is compliant or what to file. The Development Commissioner decides and the unit answers for it, so a person signs off on every submission.
Want to work out the AI layer for Awayroll? Talk to Yash →
Here's what can go south -
This suits a founder who has worked inside SEZ units or with customs brokers and knows the paperwork cold. If you're hoping to build general remote-work security then this isn't it. First count the eligible units in two zones, then get three finance controllers to say they would pay before their next renewal.
Plan for roughly ₹50–90 L over 5–8 months, mostly on product build, HR system connectors and selling to unit admin teams.
No licence for the software. The unit holds the approvals, and you need company registration and DPDP compliance for employee data.
Only where a similar rule exists. Awayroll is built on one Indian SEZ rule, so check whether your country's free zones limit remote work before you start.
The free Awayroll validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the SEZ and data-protection checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for unit heads and brokers, and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Awayroll or something close to it? The make-or-break work is proving there are enough SEZ units with remote staff to support a business, and I can help you size that honestly. If you need a hand, you know where to find me. Talk to Yash →
For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.