Eligibility
Ask whether the country-code domain requires citizenship, local presence, trademark, business registration or supporting documents.
Country-domain operations guide
Own and operate a domain in India
Compare the free first-year domain with its year-two renewal. A domain is a renewable identity governed by registry and registrar rules; hosting is only one service it can point to.
Registrant must be correctRegistrar controls renewalDNS controls routingHosting can change independently
Ownership model
Keep control points separate and recoverable
Record the registry, registrar account, legal registrant, administrative contacts, expiry date, nameservers and DNS operator. Never let an agency or employee become the only recovery route.
Registrant record
Use the actual owner’s legal details and an organization-controlled recovery email.
Registrar security
Enable unique credentials, multi-factor authentication, registrar lock and change alerts.
DNS operator
Export the complete zone. The registrar and DNS host may be different companies.
Hosting relationship
A bundled domain can still have separate renewal, transfer and refund terms.
Continuity
Maintain an owner register and recovery procedure outside the provider account.
Before registration
- 01Confirm registry eligibility, prohibited names and documentary evidence
- 02Identify the accredited registrar or reseller and who provides support
- 03Record registration, renewal, transfer, restoration and privacy prices
- 04Confirm whether the quoted period is one year or a registry-specific term
- 05Check transfer locks, authorization-code access and ownership-change procedure
- 06Ask what happens at expiry: grace, redemption, deletion and auction
- 07Choose an external recovery email and organization-controlled payment method
- 08Save the order, policy and registrant confirmation outside the hosting account
DNS and email safety
A nameserver change replaces the whole published zone
Copying only the website record can disable mail and verification services. Recreate and validate records before delegating to new nameservers.
A, AAAA, CNAME, www and relevant subdomains
Export · recreate · verifyMX plus any provider-specific autodiscover records
Export · recreate · verifySPF TXT, DKIM selectors and DMARC policy/reporting addresses
Export · recreate · verifyCertificate authority authorization, search, analytics and vendor TXT records
Export · recreate · verifyAPI, status, storage, calendar and custom application records
Export · recreate · verifyTTL, DNSSEC delegation and proxy/CDN status
Export · recreate · verifyLifecycle
Plan for renewal, transfer and failure
Calendar reminders well before expiry, but also monitor the registrar contact address and payment route. Before a transfer, verify eligibility, unlock only when needed, obtain the authorization code securely, preserve DNS hosting and wait to cancel any related service until completion.
Renewal
Confirm auto-renew date, price, tax, card validity and whether bundled years alter the expiry date.
Transfer
A transfer changes the registrar, not necessarily the DNS or hosting. Avoid combining it with a live-site migration.
Redemption
Recovery after expiry can be costly or unavailable. Registry-specific stages and timing override generic advice.
Incident
If the account is compromised, contact registrar abuse/security, preserve proof of identity and avoid destructive DNS edits.
Domain FAQ
Should hosting and domain be with the same company?
Either model can work. Separation can reduce lock-in; consolidation can simplify billing. Ownership, recovery and export access matter more.
Does changing host require transferring the domain?
No. Usually only DNS records need to change.
Is WHOIS privacy the same as ownership?
No. Privacy changes public display; the underlying registrant and account control still determine ownership.
Can DNSSEC break a migration?
Yes. A stale delegation signer after changing DNS operators can make the domain fail validation. Coordinate DNSSEC removal or replacement deliberately.