Crypto Withdrawal Stuck on an Indian Exchange? Here Is the Direct Answer

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

A withdrawal sits in one of three buckets, and the fix is different for each. First find which one applies, then act.

• KYC or risk hold by the exchange. The exchange has flagged your account for re-KYC, a source-of-funds check, a name or PAN mismatch, or an unusual-activity review. Your money is on the platform but locked until you clear the check. This is the most common case and you resolve it with the exchange's compliance team.
• A TDS or tax-side block. Indian crypto rules deduct 1% TDS on the transfer of a virtual digital asset, and gains are taxed at a flat 30% with no set-off of losses. An exchange may hold or short-credit an INR withdrawal where TDS or balance-reconciliation is pending, or where your bank flagged the credit. This is a reconciliation issue, not a freeze.
• A police or cyber-cell lien. A law-enforcement instruction, often arising from a P2P trade where the counterparty's funds were later reported as fraud, can freeze the INR balance or the linked bank account. The exchange cannot lift this; only the authority that placed it can. This needs a separate, document-led approach.

Get the exact reason in writing from the exchange before you do anything else. The wording decides everything.

Open the app and read the flag. Then:

1. Complete or correct KYC exactly as asked. Match your name, PAN and bank account holder name so all three agree. A withdrawal often fails simply because the bank account name does not match the KYC name.
2. Answer the source-of-funds query with clean proof: salary credits, prior buy invoices, or bank statements showing how you funded the account. Send one tidy bundle, not scattered files.
3. Use only the registered withdrawal bank account. Many exchanges allow INR withdrawal only to a bank account in your own name that has been verified. A new or third-party account triggers a hold.
4. Raise a ticket and quote the exact flag. Ask for the specific deficiency and the date it will clear.

Indian exchanges are intermediaries under the IT Rules 2021 and must publish a Grievance Officer with a name, email and a timeline to acknowledge and resolve complaints. If the support desk loops you, write to that Grievance Officer directly.

If the held or short amount looks like a tax issue, reconcile rather than panic.

• The 1% TDS on a VDA transfer reduces the amount that settles. Check your exchange's TDS statement and your Form 26AS or AIS on the income tax portal to see the TDS credited against your PAN.
• If an INR withdrawal was short-credited, ask the exchange for a transaction-level statement showing the gross amount, TDS deducted, fees and net paid. A “missing” amount is often the TDS and fees, not a freeze.
• If your bank bounced or held the incoming credit because it treats crypto-linked transfers cautiously, the issue is at the bank, not the exchange. Raise it with the bank and, if unresolved in 30 days, with the RBI ombudsman via CMS.

Tax treatment is fact-specific. For the 30% rate, the 1% TDS and reporting, a chartered accountant is the right person. This is not tax advice.

This is the hardest case and needs care. A lien usually appears when funds you received, often through a P2P trade, are traced from a victim's fraud complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. The exchange or your bank then acts on a cyber-cell instruction.

1. Get the five facts in writing from the exchange or bank: the amount held, the date, that it is on an external instruction, the authority's name (cyber cell or police station), and its reference, such as the NCRP acknowledgement or FIR number.
2. Approach the authority that placed the lien, not just the exchange. Quote the NCRP or FIR reference. Show your side of the P2P trade: the order ID, the chat, the UTR of what you paid and received, and that you transacted in good faith for value.
3. Apply for lien removal in writing to the investigating officer, attaching your trade trail. Investigating officers do release holds where the account holder documents a clean, for-value trade. If the officer does not act, a lawyer can move the jurisdictional magistrate or High Court.
4. For the full strategy on a bank-account lien from a cyber complaint, see the companion guide on removing a cybercrime debit freeze. Do not buy or sell crypto P2P against unverified counterparties to avoid this trap in future.

To: The Grievance Officer, [Exchange] (under IT Rules 2021)
Subject: Withdrawal held on account [registered email / ID]

My INR / crypto withdrawal of [amount] requested on [date] is held.
The reason shown is: "[paste exact wording]".

Account verified in my name, PAN [masked], registered bank account
[masked, own name]. KYC complete on [date].

Please confirm in writing:
1. The exact reason and the deficiency, if any, on my side.
2. Whether the hold is the exchange's own decision or on an external
   (police / cyber-cell) instruction, and if external, the authority
   and reference (NCRP / FIR number).
3. The transaction-level statement showing gross amount, TDS, fees and
   net, if this is a settlement or TDS reconciliation.
4. The date by which the withdrawal will be processed.
[Name, registered email, mobile, date]

The exchange and your bank, if private, are not public authorities, so you cannot RTI them to release crypto. RTI helps only where a public authority holds a record. If a police or cyber cell placed the lien, that office is a public authority: an RTI to its PIO can ask for the date and reference of the instruction concerning your account and the status of the complaint, subject to Section 8(1)(h), which protects details that would impede an active investigation, not the bare existence of the order. If your bank is a public sector bank, an RTI to its PIO can seek the instruction letter under which the lien was marked. Use your state RTI portal for the police and the online route for the bank, and read why RTI gets rejected around Section 8(1)(h).

Insist on the specific deficiency in writing and the date it clears, then write to the published Grievance Officer under the IT Rules 2021. A review without a stated reason is what you escalate. Keep every ticket and reply.

Usually not. The 1% TDS on the transfer and the platform fee reduce the net. Ask for a transaction-level statement and check the TDS against your PAN in AIS or Form 26AS before treating it as a hold.

If your counterparty's funds trace to a fraud complaint, the cyber cell can lien the chain of accounts the money passed through, including yours, even if you acted in good faith. Get the authority and reference, take your trade proof to that office, and apply for lien removal.

No. The exchange or bank only acts on the instruction. The authority that placed the lien must lift it. Your job is to put your for-value trade proof before that authority, and if it does not act, move the magistrate through a lawyer.

Approaching the freezing authority with documents is the normal release route and account holders do it routinely. Go with paper: order ID, chat, UTRs and proof of value. If you receive a notice naming you, take a lawyer.

No. RTI obtains records from a public authority and does not order release. Use the grievance officer, the RBI ombudsman for a bank issue, and the investigating officer for a lien. RTI supports, it does not replace, those routes.

• Removing a cybercrime debit freeze
• Creator payout stuck on YouTube or Instagram
• Cybercrime portal complaint disposed without action
• All practical guides

Download the crypto withdrawal hold checklist (PDF).