How do I accept online payments on my website in India?

A payment gateway is the service that securely handles the transaction between your customer, the banks, and your account. In India the popular options are Razorpay, PayU, Cashfree, Instamojo, and CCAvenue, with Stripe available for some use cases. They support the methods Indian customers expect — UPI, debit and credit cards, net banking, and wallets — so you're not forcing everyone into a single payment type.

To go live you register with the gateway and complete KYC: business details, PAN, and a bank account for settlements (gateways accept sole proprietors and registered companies alike). Expect a merchant discount rate of roughly 2% per transaction, though UPI is often cheaper, and check for any setup or annual fees. Money usually settles to your bank in about two to three working days.

On the build side, you either drop the gateway's checkout into a custom site or store, or use a platform like Shopify or WooCommerce that integrates it for you. Whichever route you take, the page must be served over HTTPS, and you should test the full flow — including failed, cancelled, and refunded payments — before you start taking real orders.