How to monetise a car or bike channel in India: YouTube's rules, step by step

Every week someone in a club WhatsApp group announces a new motoring channel. The first question that follows is always the same: when does YouTube actually start paying, and how much does it keep? The short answer is that there are two gates. At 500 subscribers you can turn on fan funding. At 1,000 subscribers, with enough watch time, you get a cut of the ads.

The two gates, and what India qualifies for

Google's expanded YouTube Partner Programme lets creators in eligible countries apply at 500 subscribers, with 3 valid public uploads in the last 90 days, plus either 3,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months or 3 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. India is on the eligible list. At that level you get channel memberships, Super Chat and Super Stickers, Super Thanks, jewels and gifts, and shopping features. No ad money yet.

Ad revenue sharing starts at the next gate. Google's eligibility page sets it at 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 qualified public watch hours in the last 12 months, or 1,000 subscribers with 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. You also need two-step verification on the Google account and a linked AdSense account.

The split matters more than the subscriber count. YouTube's own creator blog states the share is 55 per cent for long-form videos and 45 per cent for Shorts. On Shorts, Google's help page is specific: monetising creators keep 45 per cent of their allocated revenue from the Creator Pool, whether or not music was used. So a review that runs eight minutes pays better per rupee of ad spend than the same footage cut to 40 seconds.

Getting the money out, and the tax form people forget

Payment runs through AdSense, not YouTube. Google's payment thresholds table lists a verification threshold of $10 and a payment threshold of $100 in US dollars, which means earnings sit in the account until they cross that line.

Then the part that quietly eats earnings. Google withholds US tax on earnings from viewers in the United States. Its help page says India and the US have a tax treaty relationship that reduces the rate to 15 per cent of earnings from US viewers, against 30 per cent for creators who submit valid tax information but cannot claim treaty benefits. Submit nothing and Google may withhold up to 24 per cent of total worldwide earnings for an individual account. The deadline it names is 10 December each year, and forms expire three years after submission, so a channel that filed in 2023 needs to file again.

Protecting the name

A channel name is a brand the day a sponsor sends an email. Filing Form TM-A with the Indian trademark office costs ₹4,500 per class, per mark for e-filing by an individual, a startup or a small enterprise, and ₹5,000 for physical filing. Everyone else pays ₹9,000 for e-filing and ₹10,000 physically. Startups and small enterprises have to attach the relevant certificate.

Two habits separate the channels that last. Label paid work clearly, every time, in the video and the description. And be honest about what you are: a newsroom with editors behind it, like the publisher-run channels, or an independent creator speaking for yourself. Readers can tell the difference, and they remember who told them straight.

Sources

• Overview of the expanded YouTube Partner Program, YouTube Help
• YouTube Partner Program overview and eligibility, YouTube Help
• YouTube Partner Program, Explained, YouTube official blog
• How Shorts ad revenue sharing works, YouTube Help
• Payment thresholds, Google AdSense Help
• Tax requirements for monetising YouTube creators, YouTube Help
• Trade Marks forms and official fees, Intellectual Property India