Should clinic software ever hold your payments? No — and here is why
If a software vendor collects patient payments into their account and pays you later, ask to see their payment aggregator authorisation. Most cannot produce one.
This sounds like a technicality. It is not: it determines whether your revenue sits in your bank account or somebody else's, and what happens to it if that somebody has a bad quarter.
The regulatory position, briefly
The Reserve Bank of India regulates payment aggregators — entities that collect funds from customers on behalf of merchants and settle them later. Operating as one requires authorisation, minimum net worth, and ongoing compliance including how customer funds are held. It is a serious licence, and clinic software companies do not generally hold it.
A vendor who collects your patients' payments into their own account and transfers them to you weekly is performing that function, whatever the feature is called in the product.
The three models, in plain terms
| Model | Where the money lands | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| The practice's own gateway account | Directly in your account, from the patient | You complete KYC once. Settlement is your gateway's, not your software's. |
| Split settlement (Route-style) | Your account, split automatically | Cleaner reconciliation, but the vendor takes on chargeback and dispute responsibility — and gateways gate this behind volume. |
| Vendor collects and pays out | The vendor's account, then yours | This is the aggregator perimeter. Ask for the authorisation. |
What you give up by doing it properly
Honesty matters here: the correct model has a real cost. You must complete the gateway's KYC yourself — PAN, bank account, business proof — and that is an afternoon of paperwork nobody enjoys. A vendor who collects on your behalf can have you taking payments in ten minutes.
That convenience is the entire sales pitch, and it is the thing to be suspicious of. The question to ask is not "is this easier?" but "where is my money between the patient paying and me receiving it, and who can touch it?"
Four questions for any vendor
- Whose merchant account do patient payments settle into — mine or yours?
- If yours: are you an RBI-authorised payment aggregator, and can I see the authorisation?
- What is the settlement delay, and what happens to funds in transit if you cease trading?
- Who is liable for a chargeback — me, you, or the gateway?
Where GullyMed stands
Payments go from the patient to the practice's own Razorpay account, linked once by the owner. We store a reference and read webhooks so the invoice updates itself. We never hold funds, which means we are outside the aggregator perimeter entirely — and it means you do the KYC. We think that is the right trade, and we would rather say so plainly than bury it.
Questions we get asked
- Does this apply to cash and UPI QR at the counter?
- No — that is money passing directly to you. It should still be recorded in the software so your collection sheet balances.
- What about a booking advance taken online?
- Same principle. It should land in your account and be adjusted against the final invoice as a credit.
- Is split settlement safe?
- It is legitimate and used widely. It changes who handles disputes, so read that part of the contract rather than the marketing page.