Template · Downloadable Word template

Software Development Agreement Template (India)

Contract Shield Free Beginner India

Most contract templates online are US-shaped, and this one is genuinely built for the Indian context: it covers IP assignment under the Copyright Act 1957 (India has no automatic work-for-hire, so the assignment language matters), DPDP Act data handling, milestone payment schedules, and a source-code escrow clause. For a founder building outside the big startup hubs without a lawyer on retainer, it is a concrete starting point that already speaks to Indian law. Treat it as a draft to adapt, not a signed document, and have counsel review the final version.

• In India the client owns the code only on full payment and only with explicit IP assignment language, since there is no automatic work-for-hire doctrine.
• It bundles the parts a milestone contract needs: payment schedule, a 30-day acceptance window, and 90-day bug support.
• It adds India-specific pieces most global templates skip: DPDP Act data security and an escrow arrangement if the developer goes insolvent.