United Kingdom/India: Free Trade Agreement and Social Security Agreement Forthcoming

• Social security provisions of DCC. The DCC will ensure that:
  • Employees moving between India and the United Kingdom and their employers will only be liable for social security contributions in one country at a time, avoiding double payments; and
  • Employees temporarily working in the other country (for up to three years) will only continue paying social security contributions in their home country.
• Reciprocal application. This agreement is reciprocal, benefiting both employees (and employers) on assignment from India to the United Kingdom (and vice versa).

Both businesses and citizens across the United Kingdom and India will benefit from the DCC, as it will prevent employers and employees from being liable for double social security contribution payments, exempting employees on temporary assignment (for up to three years) from making social security contributions in the host country.

However, the DCC will not impact employees’ rights to access social security benefits (such as pensions) from the country where they pay their social security contributions.

Negotiations on this FTA started in January 2022. Considering the historic business relationship between the United Kingdom and India and the projected growth of the Indian economy, these agreements present a significant opportunity for UK and Indian businesses.

• Only a summary of the FTA has been published. The UK and Indian governments will now work together to finalize the legal text of the FTA.
• The full text of the DCC has not yet been published. Negotiations will start soon, and the intention is that it will enter into force alongside the FTA.
• Both agreements will be finalized when the UK and Indian governments complete their ratification processes. We will provide updates when this happens.