Salary Reimbursement Scheme (Goa Start-up Policy)

What is the Goa Salary Reimbursement Scheme?

Salary Reimbursement Scheme is a startup incentive of the Government of Goa, run by the Startup and IT Promotion Cell (SITPC) inside the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications. The scheme pays a Goa startup back part of what it spends on wages, so that a young company can afford to hire Goan graduates instead of postponing recruitment.

The scheme first appeared under the Goa Start-up Policy 2017, was carried forward into the Goa IT Start-up Policy 2021 with a higher monthly cap, and is named again among the schemes listed in the Goa Startup Policy 2025. That last policy remains in operation for three years from the date of its notification in the Official Gazette.

According to the incentives page published on startup.goa.gov.in, the scheme has two distinct components:

• Fresher hiring component to 50% of the salary of a fresher is reimbursed, subject to a cap of Rs 15,000 per month per recruit. A startup can claim for a maximum of 25 people per month, for a period of 3 years.
• Local workforce component: where a startup's workforce comprises 60% or more locals, up to 25% of the salary of the local workforce is reimbursed subject to a cap of Rs 25 lakh per year, again for 3 years and a maximum of 25 people.

Under the original 2017 notification the fresher cap was Rs 10,000 per month; the current published figure is Rs 15,000. Each component is available to a maximum of 100 startups each year, selected by the Cell under its own guidelines.

Who is eligible for the Salary Reimbursement Scheme?

A startup can claim if:

• It holds a valid startup certificate number issued by the Startup and IT Promotion Cell, Government of Goa.
• The employees whose salary is claimed were hired for a period of at least 12 months.
• The bank accounts of the employees whose salary is claimed are linked to Aadhaar.
• The bank accounts of the directors of the company are linked to Aadhaar.
• The salary was paid digitally. Where digital payment was genuinely not possible, the Cell may admit the expenditure at its own discretion after due diligence.
• The expenditure was incurred after the notification of the policy under which the claim is made and within its validity.

For the fresher component specifically, the employee whose salary is claimed must be an IT professional, defined in the scheme document as any person directly involved in developing an Information Technology enabled product or service.

You cannot apply if:

• You are an individual employee. The scheme reimburses the employer. A salaried person at a Goa startup is not eligible for a personal benefit under this scheme, and this is the single most common misunderstanding about it.
• Your startup is not certified by the Cell. DPIIT recognition alone under the central Startup India programme does not substitute for the Goa startup certificate.
• The employee was engaged for less than 12 months, on a casual, project or internship basis that does not meet the 12-month hiring condition.
• The salary was paid in cash and the Cell declines to admit it.
• The expenditure was incurred more than six months before the claim.
• You are claiming under the 60%-local-workforce component but your workforce does not meet that threshold. "Local" is defined as a person born in Goa, or holding domicile in Goa for 10 years or more, or the spouse of such a person through a marriage registered in Goa.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Salary Reimbursement Scheme

1. Get certified first. Register your startup on the Goa State Startup Portal at startup.goa.gov.in and obtain a startup certificate number from the Startup and IT Promotion Cell. Under the Goa Startup Policy 2025 a complete registration application is certified within four days, and the startup must have been in operation for at least three months before applying for registration.
2. Pay the salaries digitally and keep the trail. Reimbursement is retrospective. Run payroll through bank transfer, keep salary slips, and make sure both employee and director bank accounts are Aadhaar-linked before you file.
3. Open the startup single-window. Log in through the startup portal on goaonline.gov.in and select the Salary Reimbursement Scheme service.
4. Fill the claim form with the list of employees, their dates of joining, monthly salary and the months claimed, and mark which component, fresher or 60% local workforce — you are claiming under.
5. Upload the documents listed above and submit. The scheme document also allows the form and documents to be e-mailed to the Cell.
6. Track the application. The Cell evaluates the employment documents and notifies approval or rejection within 45 days of a complete application.
7. Receive the money. Once approved, the sanctioned amount is disbursed within 60 days of the date of approval, into the startup's bank account.

How to apply offline or in person

1. Visit the Startup and IT Promotion Cell at IT HUB, 2nd Floor, Altinho, Panaji, Goa 403001, during office hours.
2. Carry the printed claim form and a complete set of the documents listed above.
3. Submit the set at the Cell counter and collect an acknowledgement carrying the application reference.

The scheme text itself permits the form and documents to be e-mailed to the Cell at spc-dit.goa@gov.in as an alternative to the web portal.

How much money will actually reach my startup?

Take a startup that hires three freshers at Rs 40,000 a month each. Fifty per cent of that salary is Rs 20,000, which exceeds the Rs 15,000 monthly ceiling, so the reimbursement is capped at Rs 15,000 per recruit per month; Rs 45,000 a month across the three, or Rs 5.4 lakh over a year, and up to three years if the employees stay and the Cell continues to approve.

A startup hiring a fresher at Rs 20,000 a month receives 50% of Rs 20,000, that is Rs 10,000, because the actual half-salary is below the ceiling. The cap never increases the benefit; it only limits it.

Under the local workforce component the arithmetic is different: 25% of the salary of the local workforce, subject to Rs 25 lakh per year, for a maximum of 25 people. A startup cannot inflate a claim by naming more than 25 employees.

Why Salary Reimbursement claims get rejected

• No valid startup certificate, or a certificate that lapsed before the claim was filed.
• Employee bank account not Aadhaar-linked, which the scheme lists as an express eligibility condition.
• Director bank accounts not Aadhaar-linked.
• Salary paid in cash, with no digital trail the Cell can verify.
• Claim filed beyond six months of incurring the expenditure.
• Employee hired for less than 12 months, or the appointment letter does not state the term.
• Fresher status not established. The graduation certificate shows the degree was completed more than two years before the hiring.
• Annual cap exhausted, since only 100 startups a year can avail each component and the Cell selects them under its own guidelines.

A rejection on document grounds can usually be cured by refiling with the missing proof, provided the six-month window has not closed. A rejection on selection grounds cannot, because the scheme is expressly not an entitlement.

Key dates and policy history

• 2017; Salary Reimbursement Scheme notified under the Goa Start-up Policy 2017, with a Rs 10,000 monthly fresher cap.
• 2021, Scheme carried into the Goa IT Start-up Policy 2021 administered by the Startup and IT Promotion Cell, with the fresher cap published as Rs 15,000 per month.
• 2025: Salary Reimbursement Scheme named among the schemes of the Goa Startup Policy 2025, which runs for three years from gazette notification. Startups registered under the 2017 and 2021 policies are expressly grandfathered and may apply under the new policy.

There is no annual last date. The operative deadline is the rolling six-month window from the date the salary expenditure was incurred.

Help and grievance redressal

• Startup and IT Promotion Cell helpline: 1800-233-5060
• E-mail: spc-dit.goa@gov.in
• Office: IT HUB, 2nd Floor, Altinho, Panaji, Goa 403001
• Portal: startup.goa.gov.in for registration and scheme details; goaonline.gov.in for filing the claim

The Goa Startup Policy 2025 also requires every government department that deals with startups to appoint a nodal officer as a single point of contact for permissions, grievances and queries. Where a claim has been pending beyond the 45-day decision window, that nodal officer and the Cell's helpline are the correct first escalation, ahead of any approach to the supported Committee.

How to check your application status

1. Log back into the startup single-window. Go to goaonline.gov.in, sign in with the same credentials used to file the salary reimbursement claim, and open the "My Applications" or "Track Application" section. The claim will show one of a small set of statuses: submitted, under scrutiny with the Startup and IT Promotion Cell, approved, or returned for correction.
2. Keep the application reference number handy. The portal issues a reference or acknowledgement number at the time of submission (and the same number is given if the claim was submitted at the Cell's counter or by e-mail). Quote this number in every follow-up, whether online, by phone or in person.
3. Watch for a returned or query status. If the Cell finds the employee or director Aadhaar-bank linkage incomplete, a document missing, or a discrepancy in the salary slips against the claim form, the application is typically sent back for correction rather than rejected outright. Respond within the window the Cell gives, since the 45-day evaluation clock and the subsequent 60-day disbursement clock both restart from a complete, corrected application.
4. Call the helpline if the portal status has not moved. The Startup and IT Promotion Cell's helpline is 1800-233-5060. Have the reference number, the startup's certificate number and the month(s) claimed ready before you call.
5. Write to the Cell for a written update. The scheme documentation lists spc-dit.goa@gov.in as the Cell's e-mail address; a written query naming the reference number is useful if a phone follow-up does not resolve the delay.
6. Follow up in person as a last resort. The Cell's office is at IT HUB, 2nd Floor, Altinho, Panaji, Goa 403001. Carry a printed copy of the acknowledgement or reference number when visiting.
7. After approval, track disbursement separately. Approval and payment are two different events: the scheme provides for disbursement within 60 days of the date of approval, so a claim marked "approved" but not yet paid is still within the normal timeline unless that window has passed, in which case the helpline or a written follow-up is the right next step.