Razorpay integration in a website: fees, settlement and setup
A plain-English guide for Indian business owners: what Razorpay checks before your website can take payments, how its fees and settlements work, and the settings that stop 'paid but no order' complaints.
Razorpay integration in a website lets customers pay you by UPI, card, netbanking or wallet on your own site, and Razorpay pays the money into your bank account a couple of working days later, minus its fee and GST. The coding is often the quickest part. What holds owners up is KYC, the policy pages Razorpay checks before it allows live payments, and a few settings that decide whether every paid order actually reaches you.
This guide covers each of those, including the checks that prevent the call every online seller dreads: "the money has gone from my account, but I got no confirmation".
How does Razorpay work on a website?
Every payment passes through four stages, which explain what you see in your Dashboard and bank statement.
- Order created. When the customer clicks Pay, your website tells Razorpay the exact amount and gets an order reference back. Razorpay automatically refunds payments made without one, so a custom build that skips this step loses real sales.
- Authorised. The customer approves the payment in their UPI app or with a card OTP, and the money is held.
- Captured. The payment is confirmed, and only now is it safe to pack the parcel or confirm the booking. Auto-capture, the default setting, does this for you.
- Settled. Razorpay pays captured payments into your bank on its settlement cycle, usually several at once, after deducting its fee and GST.
One settlement can cover many payments, less fees, tax and refunds, so reconcile from Razorpay's settlement report rather than your bank statement.
Which way of adding Razorpay suits your website?
| Route | Suits | Developer needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Payment Links or Payment Pages | Invoices, deposits, event fees, or selling without a website | No |
| Payment Button | A few fixed-price products or services | Only to paste the code |
| Plugin or app (WooCommerce, Shopify and others) | Stores on those platforms | For set-up and testing |
| Standard Checkout on a custom site | Laravel or other custom builds, booking platforms, portals | Yes |
Razorpay's own docs advise using its plugins on WooCommerce, Shopify, WordPress or Magento rather than building from scratch. On Shopify, orders paid through Razorpay also carry Shopify's third-party transaction fee, which our comparison of Shopify, WooCommerce and custom stores explains. A note on bias: Razorpay is the default gateway on the WooCommerce and Laravel stores we build, though other Indian gateways work in similar ways. If you are still planning the site, our free website cost estimator includes online payments and shows what shapes the cost.
What does Razorpay need before your website can take payments?
Razorpay is an RBI-authorised payment aggregator, so it verifies your business before it settles a single payment. Keep these ready:
- PAN: your own for a proprietorship; the business PAN plus a signatory's PAN for a company or partnership.
- Business documents: usually a GST or Udyam (MSME) certificate plus one supporting document, such as a shop and establishment certificate, depending on your business type.
- A bank account for settlements, which Razorpay checks with a small test deposit.
- Identity checks: since January 2026, an existing Central KYC record can verify you in minutes; otherwise the authorised signatory does a video KYC with PAN and Aadhaar to hand.
- A live website with policy pages. Razorpay's website requirements ask for links to About us, Contact us, pricing, terms and conditions, privacy policy, cancellation and refund policy and shipping policy pages, plus a sample invoice, and a test login if customers must sign in to pay.
The website review matters most: live API keys, the credentials that let a site take real money, only become available once Razorpay has checked it, which its docs say takes up to three working days. Razorpay can generate policy pages if yours fall short, but pages that state your actual refund window and cancellation terms serve customers better.
What does Razorpay cost, and when do you get paid?
How the fees work
On the standard plan, Razorpay keeps a percentage of each successful payment, adds GST on that fee (not on your sale) and deducts both before paying you. There is no setup fee or annual maintenance charge, corporate and international cards cost more, and new accounts are sometimes offered an introductory rate, so check Razorpay's pricing page when you sign up. UPI carries no MDR (merchant discount rate) under government rules, but a gateway can still charge its own fee on UPI, so ask how your plan treats it.
Add your GSTIN under GST details in the Dashboard so it appears on Razorpay's invoices, then ask your CA whether the GST on those fees can be claimed as input tax credit.
When the money reaches your bank
Razorpay's settlement docs give T+2 working days as the standard for domestic payments, where T is the day a payment is captured. Bank holidays push the credit back, and the cycle can vary with your business type and risk profile, so go by the one shown on your Dashboard. International card payments need separate activation and settle on a longer cycle, still in rupees, while Instant Settlements, a paid add-on, cuts the wait to minutes.
Refunds and disputes
Refunds come out of your Razorpay balance, so heavy refund days shrink the next settlement; if the balance runs short, you add funds or wait for new payments. If a customer disputes a card payment with their bank, Razorpay emails you, and you can accept it or contest it with evidence such as the invoice and proof of delivery. Lose, and the amount is deducted from your account.
Which settings stop "paid but no order" problems?
Five settings decide whether payments and orders match up. Ask your developer to confirm each, or check them under Account & Settings in the Dashboard.
- Keep auto-capture on. It is the default, and the "Authorize and Capture" option in the WooCommerce plugin. Payments left uncaptured past the capture window go back to the customer automatically.
- Make sure webhooks work. A webhook is Razorpay's server telling your website that a payment went through. Without it, the site relies on the customer's browser, which fails when someone closes the tab, loses signal on a local train or presses back after the OTP. Late bank replies add to this: Razorpay marks such a payment failed after ten minutes, yet can authorise it up to three days later if the bank confirms.
- Send webhook alerts to someone who reads them. If your site keeps rejecting webhooks, Razorpay retries for 24 hours, then switches the webhook off and emails the alert address. That address should not belong to a developer who left last year.
- Swap test keys for live keys, then pay for real. Razorpay warns that a site left on test keys shows a success screen while no money moves. After launch, buy something small with your own UPI, check it in the Dashboard's live mode, then refund it.
- Register every domain that takes payments. Razorpay fails payments from websites not registered on your account, so add a new domain before switching to it.
Two more checks. On WooCommerce, the hold-stock timer cancels unpaid orders, so if Razorpay shows a payment captured but the order says cancelled, check the webhook's recent deliveries before refunding or asking the customer to pay again. And since 28 February 2026, NPCI rules stop most customers paying by typing a UPI ID (they scan a QR code or pick their UPI app instead), so older custom checkouts may need updating.
Who should hold the keys to your Razorpay account?
Open the account in your business's name, never your developer's or agency's. KYC ties it to a PAN and bank account, so an account in someone else's name means their documents, their settlements and their control over your checkout.
Razorpay has no separate developer role; only the Owner and Admin roles can see API keys. Its suggested routine is that the owner generates test keys for the developer and shares live keys securely only at launch (privately, not in a WhatsApp group). Give your accountant the Finance role, which can download reports but can't issue refunds or touch keys.
When a developer or agency stops working with you, remove their access and regenerate the API keys. Razorpay can switch the old key off at once or after 24 hours, giving time to update the website without breaking checkout.
Key takeaways
- Have PAN, business documents, bank details and proper policy pages ready; live payments wait for the website review.
- Money arrives on a settlement cycle, net of Razorpay's fee, GST and refunds; add your GSTIN so the fee invoices carry it.
- Keep auto-capture on, make sure webhooks work and send their alerts to an inbox someone reads.
- Test one real payment and refund after launch, and regenerate keys whenever a developer leaves.
FAQs
Can I accept payments through Razorpay without a website?
Yes. Payment Links, Payment Pages and Razorpay Invoices work from the Dashboard, so you can send a link on WhatsApp or email and the customer pays on a page Razorpay hosts. What you can't do without a verified website is take payments through a checkout on your own site, because live API keys need one.
Does Razorpay charge for refunds?
Normal refunds are free and reach the customer's original payment method in five to seven working days, but the fee and GST Razorpay took on the original payment aren't returned. Instant refunds, which arrive almost immediately, cost a small extra fee. A refund can't be cancelled once issued, and normal refunds aren't possible on payments more than six months old.
Do I need GST registration to use Razorpay?
Not for Razorpay itself: its sign-up has a route for businesses without a GSTIN, using PAN and documents such as an Udyam certificate. Whether your business must register for GST is a separate question for your CA, since it depends on your turnover and what you sell.
Is Razorpay safe for my customers' card details?
With Razorpay's checkout, customers type card details into Razorpay's own payment window, not a form on your site, so card numbers never sit on your server. Razorpay handles the card-security standard (PCI DSS) and tokenisation. Your part is HTTPS across the whole site, updated plugins, and never asking customers to send card details on WhatsApp or email.
If you are adding Razorpay to a new or existing store, our ecommerce development service sets it up on WooCommerce or Laravel with cash on delivery, Shiprocket and GST-ready invoices, and tests every payment method, refund and cancellation on real phones before launch. Tell us what you sell and how customers pay you, and after a short call we'll send a fixed written quote.
