How to organise a paid workshop with an outside speaker in India

Set the speaker budget first

List every cost head on its own line. The UGC's college guidelines for conferences and workshops treat an outside speaker's honorarium as a grant item. Under that scheme, the grant can pay Rs 1,000 per day to resource persons from outside the organising institution [1]. The figure comes from a dated college-grant scheme. Read it as a benchmark for what a public institution has paid, not as a rule for your club.

A Rajasthan college's guidelines for expert lectures and workshops list the outside expert's honorarium, travel and daily allowance, and tea, lunch and incidental costs as separate heads [2]. Splitting costs this way shows which ones are fixed and which ones move with headcount.

If the speaker is coming from another city, ask early for their travel and stay needs, and get the answer in writing. A speaker who hears about accommodation the week of the event is harder to keep. The costs also land late in your budget, when there is little room to adjust.

Price the ticket and cap the seats

Set the ticket price so that paid registrations cover the fixed costs. Suppose 300 people buy a Rs 300 ticket. That brings in Rs 90,000 before any platform fee or tax. The example is hypothetical, and it only helps once you know your real speaker cost. If the speaker's fee, travel and food come to Rs 60,000, the remaining money covers the venue, printing and a contingency. Our blog on how much to charge for college fest tickets explains how to set a price from your budget and expected crowd. How to make a budget for a college fest explains why you should hold a contingency of about 10 to 15%.

Cap the seats at what your room and speaker can handle. The cap protects the experience. It also stops you from selling more places than the budget was built for. In Unifesto, you can set up several ticket types with capacity and sale windows. An early-bird batch can close on a set date while the regular batch stays open.

Sponsorship can help, but count it only once it is confirmed in writing. The Rajasthan guidelines list registration fees, institute funds, government agencies and industry sponsorship as sources for guest lectures and workshops [2]. Duke's policy in the US says speaker honorariums are generally not provided, and sponsors usually cover travel and meals instead [4]. That is a non-Indian example. It still shows that a sponsor may pay for logistics rather than the speaker's time.

Get the speaker's terms and the tax right

Decide what you are paying before you agree on a number. An honorarium and a professional fee are not the same thing. A Canadian university's policy describes an honorarium as payment for volunteer services, not a negotiated fee, and says it does not suit a professional speaker [10]. Use the word that matches the deal. Put the amount, the date and what it covers in a letter.

GST comes next. Services generally attract 18%, split as CGST and SGST within a state or charged as IGST across states [5]. The registration threshold for services is Rs 20 lakh of aggregate turnover, or Rs 10 lakh in specified special-category states [5]. A CBIC clarification on guest anchors says honorariums attract GST. It also says a payee whose turnover stays under Rs 20 lakh (Rs 10 lakh in special-category states) need not register or pay GST [6]. That is a close analogue for speakers. Check it against your speaker's own situation.

For a foreign speaker, a GST blog says the fee for a lecture delivered in India attracts 18% IGST under reverse charge, payable by the Indian recipient if registered [7]. That is a secondary source, and the notification it cites was not checked. Confirm it with a chartered accountant before you pay.

TDS is the third check. Under Section 194J, TDS on professional fees is generally 10%, and on technical services it is 2% [8]. The threshold is disputed. Bajaj Finserv and Keka say Rs 50,000 from FY 2025-26, while older guides say Rs 30,000 [8]. Some guides say the threshold applies per payee per financial year, not per invoice. They also say the rate is 20% if the payee has no PAN [9]. These are secondary sources. Check them against the Income Tax Act or CBDT circulars before you pay.

You may need college permission before any of this. Our guide on how to get college permission for an event in India covers the written request and the lead time it needs.

Run the money through one place

If the speaker is paid from ticket money, keep the flow traceable. Unifesto takes payments through Razorpay checkout and pays out to the Space's verified bank account. Its per-event financials show collected money, fees, refunds and net, with CSV export. Refunds need approval before money moves.

Do not collect ticket money on a personal UPI ID. Our post on whether it is legal to collect event fees on a personal UPI ID explains why that is a poor setup for a club or fest. We found no rule that bans it outright.

Plan the refund rule before you sell

If the workshop is cancelled, ticket holders are generally owed the ticket price back. The money should move only after the refund is approved. Write the rule on the event page before sales open. Include what happens if the speaker drops out. Our post on how refunds work when a college event is cancelled covers timelines and escalation.

If the UGC scheme applies, cancelling means the grant must be returned immediately. Changing the date or venue needs prior UGC permission [1]. A rule like that makes a cancellation plan a requirement, not a courtesy.

Our view

Our view: for a paid in-person workshop, price the ticket so that ticket money alone covers the speaker's fee, travel and food. Treat sponsorship as a bonus. Sponsors pay on their own timelines, so a workshop that depends on a confirmed sponsor is more fragile than one that does not.

Limitations

The UGC scheme document we relied on is dated. It covers the 12th Plan period, 2012 to 2017, and we did not find a newer version [1]. The TDS threshold sources conflict. The reverse charge and 20% no-PAN points come from secondary blogs we did not check against the law [8][9]. We did not research fees for speakers who join online, so this post does not cover that case. Nothing here is legal or tax advice. Confirm the figures with your college accounts office or a chartered accountant.

FAQ

Do I have to deduct TDS when I pay a workshop speaker?

Often, yes. Section 194J generally sets TDS on professional fees at 10% and on technical services at 2%. Sources disagree on the threshold, so check the current figure with an accountant before you pay [8].

Does a speaker's fee attract GST?

It can. Services generally attract 18% GST. A payee whose turnover stays under Rs 20 lakh (Rs 10 lakh in special-category states) need not register or pay GST, based on a CBIC clarification for guest anchors [5][6].

Can I charge a fee for a college workshop?

Yes. The UGC scheme lets colleges charge participants registration fees, and the Rajasthan guidelines list registration fees as a funding source [1][2]. Confirm with your college that its own rules allow a paid event.

What if I need to cancel the workshop?

Refund ticket holders, but only after the refund is approved. State your rule on the event page before sales open. In Unifesto, refunds need approval before money moves.

Sources

1. GUIDELINES FOR ORGANISING CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS, SEMINARS IN COLLEGES: https://www.ugc.gov.in/pdfnews/8622597_Guideline_Seminars.pdf
2. GUIDELINES FOR CONDUCTING SEMINARS / EXPERT LECTURES / GUEST LECTURES/: https://rljit.in/assets/pdf/policies/28_Guidelines_for_Conducting_Seminars_Expert_Lectures_Guest_Lectures_Workshops_Faculty_Development_Programs.pdf
3. RULES FOR ORGANIZING VARIOUS ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES AT NIT HAMIRPUR Page 1 of 12: https://nith.ac.in/uploads/topics/30-june-rules-for-organization-stc-ws-etc15965408623698.pdf
4. law.duke.edu: https://law.duke.edu/news/eventsoffice/speaker
5. GST on Professional Services: Rates, Applicability and Calculation: https://www.compliancecalendar.in/learn/gst-on-professional-services
6. GST on honorarium payments to Guest Anchors- CBIC clarification- Taxwink: https://www.taxwink.com/blog/gst-on-guest-anchors-honorarium
7. TDS & GST on Honorarium Paid to Foreign Delegate in India |: https://carajput.com/blog/honorarium-paid-to-foreign-delegate-in-india/
8. Section 194J of Income Tax Act: TDS Rates and Rules: https://www.bajajfinserv.in/investments/section-194j-of-income-tax-act
9. TDS on Professional Fees Under Section 194J: Rates, ...: https://www.fintax24.in/blog/tds-on-professional-fees-section-194j-rates-and-common-mistakes/
10. COLLEGE OF ARTS HONORARIUM ADMINISTRATION (June 25, 2015): https://www.uoguelph.ca/arts/sites/default/files/Honorarium Administration.docx