In an insightful SoftwareSuggest interview, we had a word with Mr. Sarabjit Singh, Founder of TankhaPay, a platform facilitating effective payroll and HR management for India’s unorganized and contractual workforce. After heading AKAL for over two decades, Sarabjit witnessed the gap in social security and formal payroll systems for millions of workers.
TankhaPay was conceptualised to simplify compliance, ensure timely salaries, and provide businesses with a seamless HR-tech solution. We explored his journey, the challenges of formalizing benefits for informal workers, and his vision to make TankhaPay a trusted name across India and emerging markets.
A warm welcome from SoftwareSuggest, Mr. Sarabjit Singh. What inspired you to launch TankhaPay after more than two decades of leading AKAL, and what gap did you see in the market?
After more than two decades of leading AKAL, I realized that while technology was transforming most sectors in India, the way we managed human resources—especially for contractual and unorganised workers—was still broken.
The inspiration for TankhaPay came from two clear observations:
- Gap in Social Security Inclusion: Millions of workers in India remain outside formal payroll and compliance frameworks. For SMEs, managing & onboarding employees, payroll, and compliance is often too complex and expensive.
- My Own Experience at AKAL: I saw firsthand how fragmented systems and manual processes created delays, errors, and dissatisfaction for both employers and employees.
TankhaPay was built to bridge this gap—a simple yet powerful HR & payroll cloud platform that automates payroll and compliance while ensuring timely salaries, social security benefits, and transparency.
In short, TankhaPay is my effort to formalise and dignify India’s workforce while giving businesses a strategic edge through compliance, efficiency, and access to government incentives. It reflects the convergence of my 20+ years of experience, India’s policy push ( new social security codes), and my conviction that technology must serve the common man.
TankhaPay secured $2.7M funding from Japanese investors—how has this influenced your growth roadmap and global outlook?
Partnering with Japanese investors has been more than just capital—it has brought global perspective, discipline, and long-term thinking. Their focus on governance, quality, and sustainable growth has helped us sharpen our roadmap for scalable SaaS and workforce management.
It has also expanded our global outlook. With Japan as a base of confidence, we see TankhaPay not just as an India-centric solution, but as a platform that can be adapted to other Asian and emerging markets facing similar workforce formalisation challenges.
In short, the partnership validates our vision and accelerates our ambition to make TankhaPay a global HR-tech player.
What unique features or philosophies make TankhaPay stand out compared to other payroll and HR tech platforms?
Most HR platforms focus only on software efficiency. TankhaPay stands out because it blends technology with compliance, services, and government incentives.
A few things that make us unique:
- End-to-End Coverage: From onboarding to payroll, compliance, attendance, and social security—everything is integrated.
- Execution + Tech Philosophy: We don’t believe software alone solves problems. Our model ensures handholding, compliance support, and service where needed.
- Inclusivity: Designed for both large enterprises and SMEs, even small businesses can manage payroll and compliance seamlessly.
Our philosophy is simple: HR tech should not only manage employees, but also empower both employers and workers.
What were the toughest challenges you faced in formalising benefits like PF and ESI for informal workers, and how did you overcome them?
The most formidable challenge was mindset and complexity. Many employers of informal workers saw PF/ESI as a burden, while workers were unaware of their entitlements. On top of that, the compliance process was fragmented and full of manual steps.
We overcame this in three ways:
- Technology Simplification – TankhaPay automates compliance, filings, and calculations so employers don’t face complexity.
- Education & Trust-Building – We actively engage employers and workers to show how social security builds loyalty and reduces attrition.
- Integration with Payroll – By tying PF/ESI directly with monthly salary runs, it became a natural process rather than an extra task.
In short, the challenge was cultural and systemic—but with technology + awareness + compliance automation, we turned it into an opportunity.
How do you balance the twin goals of profitability and social impact while scaling both AKAL and TankhaPay?
For me, profitability and social impact have never conflicted. In fact, they are two sides of the same coin. Our name “Akal”—meaning beyond time—guides us to build businesses that create value not just for today, but for generations.
With TankhaPay, every time a worker gets formal wages, PF, or ESI, it uplifts a family and builds dignity. At the same time, employers gain efficiency, compliance, and government incentives.
So the balance is natural: impact drives trust, trust drives adoption, and adoption drives profitability. That’s how we scale with purpose.
How do you measure success-not just in revenue-but in the social impact TankhaPay is creating for workers and their families?
Revenue is an important metric, but it’s not the only one. True success for TankhaPay is measured in lives touched and futures secured.
We look at impact in very tangible ways:
- How many workers are now receiving PF, ESI, and timely salaries who earlier had none?
- How much of the unorganised workforce have we brought into formal, dignified employment?
For me, every payslip generated and every family getting social security is as important as a revenue milestone. Profit shows growth, but impact shows purpose—and both must go hand in hand.
Looking ahead, where do you see TankhaPay in the next 5–10 years, and how will it align with India’s digital transformation journey?
My ultimate vision is simple: TankhaPay should become synonymous with salary. Whenever anyone thinks of paying wages in India, the first name that comes to mind should be TankhaPay.
In the next 5–10 years, I see TankhaPay as the trusted HR and payroll cloud for India’s workforce economy—from large enterprises to the smallest shops. Our goal is to formalise millions of workers, making social security and compliance as simple as sending a digital payment.
Aligned with India’s digital transformation, we are building TankhaPay as a plug-and-play HR tech stack aligned with the latest government initiatives to empower India’s growing workforce. This ensures that as India moves towards a $10 trillion economy, its workforce transitions seamlessly into the formal, digital ecosystem.
And with time, I believe this Indian model can be exported to other emerging markets, where the challenge of informality is equally pressing.
What leadership lessons have stayed with you over 25 years of building businesses, and how do they guide your decision-making today?
Over 25 years, a few leadership lessons have stayed with me deeply.
First, work with integrity—in the long run, trust is the only real currency in business. Second, adaptability—markets, technologies, and people change, but the ability to evolve while staying true to your core values keeps you relevant. And third, people first—when you invest in your teams and in your customers’ success, growth follows naturally.
These lessons guide my decisions even today. Whether it is building TankhaPay, engaging with global investors, or executing a large government project, I ask myself: Is this path building trust? Is it aligned with our values? Will it uplift people? If the answer is yes, I know it’s the right decision.
In short, values anchor us, adaptability moves us forward, and people make it meaningful.
What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs who want to build businesses that combine innovation with social responsibility?
My advice would be—don’t treat innovation and social responsibility as two separate goals. The most enduring businesses are those where impact and profit reinforce each other.
Start with a real problem that touches people’s lives, not just a trendy idea. Build with integrity and patience—because shortcuts may give quick wins but rarely create lasting value. And stay mission-driven: if your innovation uplifts society while solving for scale, the market will reward you.
Remember, entrepreneurship is not only about valuation; it’s about building something that outlives you. The world doesn’t just need smart entrepreneurs, it needs conscious ones.
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