How much does a recruitment agency charge in India?

Contingency agencies typically charge 8–15% of the hire's first-year CTC, rising with seniority, and retained executive search typically runs 20–25% or more. Some agencies bill database-access or job-posting fees on top, so always ask for the all-in number. AxureOne charges 6.5% of annual CTC on contingency, or a flat ₹6,499 per hire for bulk requirements of 15 or more hires for the same role, with nothing billed separately.

When do I pay AxureOne's fee?

Only after the candidate joins. We invoice on the joining date, never before a successful hire, and payment is due within 15 days by NEFT, RTGS, IMPS or UPI. If nobody joins, there's no fee.

Is GST included in the fee?

No. GST applies as per law, on top of the published fee. Nothing else is added: there's no database-access fee and no job-posting fee.

Is the contingency fee the same for leadership and CXO roles?

Our contingency fee, 6.5% of annual CTC, is the standard for junior to senior roles. There's no published fee for CXO or senior leadership search, so ask us about the mandate and we'll quote it in the first conversation.

What does the 90-day replacement guarantee cover?

If your hire voluntarily resigns or is let go for misconduct within 90 days of joining, you get one free replacement for the same role, provided invoices are cleared. Role changes, restructuring, salary or culture mismatch and layoffs aren't covered, and fees are non-refundable.

We're a startup making a few hires. Is an agency worth it?

Usually, yes. A full-time recruiter is a fixed cost, commonly ₹8–14 lakh a year fully loaded, whether they fill 3 roles or 30. Below roughly 15–20 hires a year, a contingency agency you pay only on success usually costs less, and a startup's first hires rarely keep a salaried recruiter busy.

For Companies · Pricing

Recruitment agency fees: 6.5% of CTC, paid only after your hire joins.

AxureOne charges 6.5% of the hire's annual CTC on a contingency basis, so you pay only on a successful hire, or a flat ₹6,499 per hire when you're hiring 15 or more people for the same role. Nothing is invoiced before the candidate's joining date, and every hire carries a 90-day replacement guarantee.*

We're a recruitment agency headquartered in Ahmedabad, hiring pan-India. This page sets out the whole fee: what it works out to in rupees, how it compares with what the industry typically charges, when you pay, and what happens if a hire leaves early.

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The short answer

Two published fees, one guarantee.

Choose by the shape of the requirement: a single role, or many similar roles at once.

Model 01 · Contingency

6.5%

Of annual CTC, success-based — you pay only on a successful hire. Our standard for junior to senior roles.

Model 02 · Fixed fee

₹6,499

A flat fee per hire when you're hiring 15 or more people for the same role — scale up without rising agency percentages.

Pay only after joining

The invoice is raised on the candidate's joining date, never before a successful hire. Payment is due within 15 days by NEFT, RTGS, IMPS or UPI.

GST as per law

GST is charged on top of the fee, as the law requires. That's the only addition.

Nothing billed separately

No database-access fee, no job-posting fee and no second invoice. Apart from GST, the fee you're quoted is the total.

Replaced free within 90 days

If the person resigns or doesn't join within 90 days, you get a replacement for the same role at no additional cost.*

Go deeperInvoicing and guarantee terms →Bulk hiring at a flat fee →

Worked examples

What a 6.5% fee works out to in rupees.

Our contingency fee is 6.5% of the hire's annual CTC, so the rupee amount moves with the salary.

Industry contingency fees in India typically run 8–15% of first-year CTC, according to the industry-reported ranges in the fees guide.

The table runs both at three salary levels, so you can see the difference in rupees rather than percentage points.

Worked examples: AxureOne's 6.5% fee on the annual CTC, next to the industry-reported 8–15% contingency range

Annual CTC: ₹6 LPA (₹6,00,000)
AxureOne (6.5%): ₹39,000
Typical industry contingency (8–15%): ₹48,000–₹90,000

Annual CTC: ₹12 LPA (₹12,00,000)
AxureOne (6.5%): ₹78,000
Typical industry contingency (8–15%): ₹96,000–₹1,80,000

Annual CTC: ₹25 LPA (₹25,00,000)
AxureOne (6.5%): ₹1,62,500
Typical industry contingency (8–15%): ₹2,00,000–₹3,75,000

Annual CTC	AxureOne (6.5%)	Typical industry contingency (8–15%)
₹6 LPA (₹6,00,000)	₹39,000	₹48,000–₹90,000
₹12 LPA (₹12,00,000)	₹78,000	₹96,000–₹1,80,000
₹25 LPA (₹25,00,000)	₹1,62,500	₹2,00,000–₹3,75,000

Arithmetic on the annual CTC, before GST. AxureOne's column applies its published 6.5% fee; the industry column is the reported market range from the fees guide, not any one agency's quote.

The 6.5% contingency fee is the standard for junior to senior roles. Leadership and CXO searches have no published fee, so ask us about those.

The same check works on any agency: take the rate it quotes, multiply it by the salary you're offering, and ask whether anything else will be billed.

Go deeperRecruitment agency fees in India →Leadership hiring →

How agencies charge

Contingency, retained and flat-fee recruitment, explained.

Recruitment agencies in India mostly charge in one of a few ways. What separates them is when you pay, and whether you pay at all if the search doesn't land anyone.

Contingency

You pay only if the agency's candidate is hired; no hire, no fee. Industry-reported fees typically run 8–10% of first-year CTC for mid-level roles, 10–12% for senior individual contributors and 12–15% for management roles.

Retained search

Mostly used for executive and confidential searches. Payment comes in stages, commonly about a third upfront and the rest at shortlist and placement, whether or not the search succeeds. Industry-reported totals typically run 20–25% or more of first-year compensation.

Flat fee

A fixed rupee amount per hire, whatever the role pays. It's the least common model industry-wide, but it scales best for bulk hiring because the cost per hire doesn't creep up as salaries do.

RPO

Recruitment process outsourcing swaps placement fees for a retainer, priced per recruiter per month or per hire. Many sources put the point where it pays off at around 15–20 or more hires a year.

We publish two of these: contingency, at 6.5% of annual CTC, and a flat ₹6,499 per hire for bulk requirements of 15 or more hires in one role. Neither carries extra fees beyond GST, and both are invoiced on the joining date.

Go deeperRecruitment agency fees, decoded →In-house vs agency vs RPO →

What the fee covers

What you get for the fee.

The fee pays for the whole hiring process, not a stack of forwarded CVs. Each candidate you meet has already been screened, vetted and background-checked.

Brief and JD

We draft and sharpen the job description and pin down what a good hire looks like for the role and the team around it.

Sourcing

Job boards, our private database, AI-assisted sourcing and direct headhunting of people who aren't actively applying.

Screening

Résumé and qualifications, a telephonic screen, hard and soft skills, and cultural fit for the long term.

Interview coordination

Scheduling, feedback and candidate engagement handled across your interviewers, so the process keeps moving.

Offer and checks

Salary negotiation, background verification and compliance, with follow-up until the hire's first day.

The guarantee

What happens if a hire leaves early.

Every hire, on either fee model, carries the 90-day replacement guarantee at no extra cost.*

The conditions, in plain terms: if the person voluntarily resigns or is let go for misconduct within 90 days of joining, you get one free replacement for the same role, on a best-effort basis within 45–60 days, as long as invoices are cleared.*

Not covered: a changed role or internal restructuring, a mismatch on salary, workload or culture, and layoffs or the role being closed. A replacement who also leaves isn't replaced again, and fees are non-refundable.

Go deeperInvoicing and guarantee terms →

Before you decide