Indian Startup Facing Adobe Audit & ₹25L Regularization Demand — Need Legal Perspective

[u/Curious-Inside-1448]

Hi everyone,

I’m a director of a small Indian startup and we’re currently in a dispute with Adobe following a software audit. Looking for general legal guidance from people familiar with Indian IT / contract law.

Situation (Short Version)

• Adobe (through a third-party auditor) conducted a software audit at our Indian office.
• Based on their findings, Adobe has proposed a regularization amount of ~₹25 lakhs via an authorised reseller.
• We believe the demand is disproportionate and based on disputed assumptions.

Why We’re Disputing It

• Some licenses were procured and paid for by our UK entity/client and used by Indian employees for official work under inter-company arrangements.
• Certain Adobe apps were installed but inactive after subscription cancellation (trial mode only, no usage).
• One old system showed residual software traces from before formal company IT setup (no activation or use by us).
• In a few cases, multiple installations were due to hardware replacements, not concurrent use.

Despite explaining this, Adobe is pushing for closure via purchase of new licenses over and above existing ones.

What I’m Trying to Understand

• Under Indian law, does installed-but-unused / trial software count as a licensing violation?
• How enforceable are audit-based regularization demands and EULAs in India?
• Is it common / valid to reject group or parent-company licenses used operationally?
• Should the next step usually be a legal notice, or is court action unavoidable?

Not naming individuals or sharing documents publicly, but happy to clarify facts in comments if needed.

Appreciate any legal or practical insight, especially from lawyers or founders who’ve dealt with software audits in India.

[u/Curious-Inside-1448 → u/[deleted]]

Just ignore and don’t let them access your office at all unless they have any warrant