How Staffing Agencies Get Empanelled With Companies in India

To get empanelled with a company in India, a staffing agency usually has to clear two gates. The first is the hiring side, the TA head, HR head or hiring manager who has roles they can't fill. The second is the vendor side, procurement or vendor management, who check your documents and sign the contract. Agencies that start with the paperwork tend to wait for months. Agencies that start with a hiring problem, deliver on one trial requirement, and then go through procurement with an internal sponsor get on the list far more often.

This guide covers what empanelment is, when companies add new vendors, what they check, a step-by-step way to get your first trial requirement, and the mistakes that keep agencies stuck on the outside.

What empanelment means

Empanelment is a company adding your agency to its approved list of recruitment vendors. Once you're on it, you can receive job requirements, submit candidates and invoice for placements.

Being empanelled doesn't guarantee work. Many companies have 10 or more vendors on paper and send most roles to the 2 or 3 who deliver. So there are really two goals: get on the list, then become one of the vendors the TA team actually calls.

Who decides

In large organisations, procurement makes the formal decision. But TA leaders always have a big say in it, because they're the ones who'll actually send you roles. In practice the decision is shared:

• TA head or HR head: decides whether they need another vendor, for which roles, and whether your agency is worth a try. They are your sponsor.
• Hiring managers: for niche or senior roles, a hiring manager who is tired of waiting can push TA to bring in a specialist.
• Procurement or vendor management: owns the formal sign-off in large companies. They check documents, negotiate terms and add you to the vendor system, but they rarely go looking for a new agency on their own.

In founder-led companies and smaller firms, the founder or HR head often decides alone and there's no separate procurement step.

The practical point: procurement signs off, but it moves fastest for vendors the TA team already wants. Reach the person with the hiring problem first.

When companies add new vendors

Timing matters more than most agencies think. Companies are most open to a new vendor when:

• They're hiring more than usual. A new office, a new GCC in India, a big project win or a funding round all mean a jump in open roles that existing vendors can't cover.
• Existing vendors are failing on certain roles. Niche tech, leadership hiring, a new city or a hard-to-fill function. Roles that stay open on Naukri or LinkedIn for weeks are a visible sign.
• A new TA or HR head joins. New leaders often review the vendor list and bring in agencies they trust.
• The yearly vendor review comes round. Many companies review vendors around budget planning, often close to the start of the financial year in April.

You can see most of these from the outside: job post volume, new office announcements, funding news, and leadership changes on LinkedIn.

What companies check before empanelling you

Keep a vendor pack ready so you're never the reason things slow down. Companies commonly ask for:

• Certificate of incorporation or registration, PAN and GST registration
• Udyam (MSME) certificate, if you have one, since some companies track MSME vendors and payment timelines differ
• Cancelled cheque or bank details on letterhead
• Company profile: sectors and roles you specialise in, team size, locations
• Client references or past placements in their industry
• Your commercial terms: fee structure, replacement guarantee, payment terms
• How you screen and verify candidates, including background verification if they need it
• Signed NDA and, later, a master service agreement
• How you store and protect candidate data. With India's DPDP Act, expect more questions here.

What commercial terms look like

For permanent hiring in India, agency fees are usually a percentage of the candidate's annual CTC. In our experience the common range is 6% to 8.33%, and it goes up to around 18% for niche, senior or hard-to-fill roles. The 8.33% figure isn't random: it's one month's salary out of twelve, which is how many companies think about the fee.

Payment terms typically run from 30 to 90 days after the candidate joins, depending on how much the company needs you and how well you negotiate. Most contracts also include a replacement guarantee if a placed candidate leaves within an agreed period.

None of this is fixed. Fees, payment days and replacement terms are all negotiable, and your leverage is highest when you've already shown you can fill roles their current vendors can't.

A step-by-step way to get your first trial requirement

1. Pick 20 to 30 target companies, not 500

Choose companies where you can genuinely deliver: your sectors, your role types, your cities. Then check which of them show a hiring signal right now. Twenty companies with a reason to talk beat five hundred cold names.

2. Find the right person and their direct contact

For each company, find the TA head or HR head, and for niche roles the hiring manager. Generic inboxes like hr@ or careers@ are where vendor emails go to die, and the switchboard rarely puts you through.

This is where most agencies lose weeks. Guessing email formats leads to bounces, and a bounced email to a TA head is a first impression you don't get back.

prospiq was built by a founder who also runs a recruitment business. Enter a TA head's name and company and it gives you their verified work email and direct phone number. Every email is checked before you're charged, you pay nothing if nothing is found, and if a verified email still bounces you get the credit back. Many of prospiq's customers are Indian staffing firms using it for exactly this step.

3. Lead with one specific problem, not your service list

"We provide staffing across IT and non-IT" sounds like every other agency. Compare that with "I saw the backend engineer roles in Pune have been open for a while. We fill Node and Java roles in Pune. Send me one and I'll share three screened profiles within 72 hours."

The second gives a busy TA head a reason to reply and a small, low-risk way to say yes.

What actually gets a new agency its first requirement is having talent ready before you reach out. Research the open roles first: what the company is hiring for, in which city, at what level. Then line up two or three genuinely relevant candidates before you write. "I have three Java developers in Pune who match your open role and can interview this week" is very hard for a TA head to ignore. A promise to start looking once they send the JD is easy to ignore.

4. Deliver on the trial requirement properly

Send fewer, better profiles. Three strong, well-screened candidates with a short note on each beat ten forwarded CVs. Respond fast, keep the hiring manager updated, and close the loop on every candidate.

5. Then go through empanelment, with a sponsor

Once you've delivered, ask your contact to start the vendor process. Now procurement is onboarding an agency the TA team already wants, which is much faster than a cold application.

6. Become a vendor they actually call

After you're on the list, stay visible. Share market insight on hard roles, check in on open requirements, and keep your fill rate high. Vendors who deliver get more roles. Vendors who don't drift to the bottom of the list.

Mistakes that keep agencies outside

• Pitching a generic service list. It reads like the twenty other agency emails that week.
• Writing to generic inboxes or calling the switchboard. Your message rarely reaches the person who decides.
• Leading with your rate card. Price talk before you've shown a single profile makes you a cost, not a solution.
• Starting with procurement. Without an internal sponsor, your documents sit in a queue.
• Following up with nothing new. "Just checking in" adds nothing. Share a relevant profile or a market insight instead.
• Contacting people who've asked you not to. Respect opt-outs. It's basic courtesy, and India's DPDP Act is making it a compliance matter too.

Start with the right 20 names

Everything in this playbook depends on reaching the person with the hiring problem, directly. Pick your 20 target companies, find their TA and HR heads, and get their verified contact details before you write a word.

prospiq's free plan gives you 20 credits with no card needed, enough for verified work emails for your first 20 target contacts. Paid plans start at Rs 2,399 a month plus GST, billed monthly with no lock-in.

Find your first 20 TA heads free →

FAQ

What is vendor empanelment in recruitment?

It's a company adding a staffing or recruitment agency to its approved vendor list, so the agency can receive job requirements, submit candidates and bill for placements. It usually involves document checks, agreed commercial terms and a signed agreement.

Who should a staffing agency contact to get empanelled?

Start with the person who has the hiring problem: the TA head, HR head or, for niche roles, the hiring manager. Procurement or vendor management handles onboarding, but they usually act once someone inside wants your agency.

What documents are needed for vendor empanelment in India?

Commonly: incorporation certificate, PAN, GST registration, bank details, a company profile, client references and your commercial terms, plus an NDA and a service agreement. Some companies also ask for an Udyam (MSME) certificate and your candidate data protection practices.

How long does empanelment take?

It varies a lot. With an internal sponsor and your documents ready, onboarding can move in weeks. Starting cold with procurement can take months, or never finish.

How do I get a trial requirement from a company that already has vendors?

Find a role they're struggling to fill, reach the TA head or hiring manager directly, and offer a specific, low-risk proof, such as a few screened profiles for one hard role within a short time. Then deliver well.