Third-party lifecycle management for India operations
Last updated: August 19, 2026
Verdana is a third-party lifecycle management platform that helps companies operating in India manage contractor and supplier compliance across a workforce and supply base that is often large, distributed, and documentation-heavy — onboarding, licensing checks, wage verification, and site access in one system.
The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act requires a company engaging contract labor above the prescribed strength to register as a principal employer, and requires every contractor to hold a license before undertaking work through contract labor. If a contractor fails to pay wages, the principal employer becomes liable to pay them in full, and the same applies to welfare amenities the contractor was supposed to provide. Verdana tracks each contractor's license status and each worker's documentation as expiring records, so a lapse is visible before it becomes the principal employer's liability.
The 2018 amendment to the Prevention of Corruption Act added Section 9, making a commercial organization liable — with an uncapped fine — if a person associated with it bribes a public servant to obtain or retain business, with "adequate procedures" as the statutory defense, closely modeled on the UK's approach. Verdana's onboarding and monitoring process applies documented due diligence to agents and intermediaries the same way it does to any other third party.
India sits alongside the rest of Verdana's regional coverage in the same platform: document requirements are configured per market, and headquarters gets one consolidated view of every supplier and contractor regardless of where they operate.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Contract Labour Act require if we use contractors in India?
A company engaging contract labor above the prescribed strength must register as a principal employer, and each contractor must hold a license before undertaking work through contract labor. Both parties are required to keep registers of the contract labor employed, the nature of the work, and the wage rates.
Are we liable if a contractor doesn't pay their workers?
The principal employer becomes liable to pay wages in full if the contractor fails to or underpays — the same pattern applies to welfare amenities the contractor was required to provide. That liability is why contractor license status and payroll compliance need to be tracked continuously, not checked once at onboarding.
Does Indian law require due diligence on our sales agents or intermediaries?
Section 9 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (added in 2018) makes a commercial organization liable if a person associated with it bribes a public servant to obtain or retain business, with documented "adequate procedures" as the statutory defense — which puts due diligence on agents and intermediaries in the same compliance scope as direct employees.