Child Made an In-App Purchase: Refund Guide for Indian Parents

In India, a child who is under 18 cannot legally enter into a contract under §11 of the Indian Contract Act 1872, so any in-app purchase the child makes without the account-holder parent's specific consent is voidable from the start. That is the central legal hook. Everything else below is the operational drill to actually get the money back inside the 48-hour or 90-day window the app stores allow.

🟢 Quick answer for parents. If a child has accidentally spent money on coins, skins, gems, loot boxes or a “VIP” subscription inside a mobile game, you have a short window to claim a refund. Google Play: request within 48 hours at https://play.google.com/store/account (most accidental purchases are auto-refunded). Apple App Store: request within 90 days at https://reportaproblem.apple.com using your Apple ID. After that window, escalate to the bank or card issuer for a chargeback on a “transaction not authorised” basis, complain to NCH 1915 if a dark pattern was involved, and file at https://edaakhil.nic.in for a money claim above ₹1,000. Lock the device with Family Link or Screen Time the same day so the bleed stops.

If you have less than an hour, jump to the 30-minute action plan below. The rest of this guide supports that single decision: which refund door to knock on first.

An in-app purchase (IAP) is a payment made inside a mobile app that is processed by the platform's billing system, not by the merchant directly. On Android it runs through Google Play Billing, on iOS through Apple's StoreKit. When you tap “buy 1,000 gems”, money flows from your saved UPI handle or card to Google or Apple, who pay the game studio after their cut.

This routing matters for a refund. You are not asking the game studio to return your money. You are asking the platform, because the platform is the merchant of record. The studio cannot refund a Google Play purchase even if it wants to. A bank chargeback against the studio's name also fails because the descriptor on your statement says “GOOGLE *INDIA” or “APPLE.COM/BILL”, not the game name.

The typical Indian victim profile is consistent. A parent hands the phone to a child for a short break. The child plays a free-to-play title (Free Fire, Roblox, Brawl Stars, Coin Master, Clash of Clans, Genshin Impact, PUBG or any casual puzzle game). A “limited-time offer” with a 60-second countdown pops up. The child taps Buy. Biometric or one-tap pay is already enabled, so three to thirty transactions clear in minutes, each between ₹80 and ₹7,999. The bank SMS arrives in a cluster.

Three statutes pull in the same direction.

• §11 of the Indian Contract Act 1872. Every person is competent to contract if of the age of majority, of sound mind, and not disqualified by law. A minor is incompetent to contract. The Privy Council settled this in Mohori Bibee v. Dharmodas Ghose (1903) ILR 30 Cal 539, and the Supreme Court has reaffirmed it consistently. A contract entered into by a minor is void ab initio, meaning it never existed in law. Money paid under a void contract is recoverable under §65 of the same Act.
• Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns 2023. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) notified 13 banned UI tricks under §18 of the Consumer Protection Act 2019. Mobile games regularly use at least five of them: false urgency (countdown timers on “offers”), confirm shaming (“No, I will play badly”), drip pricing (gems sold in odd denominations so you must overspend), basket sneaking (auto-added “VIP pass” trials), and interface interference (giant Buy buttons, tiny Skip links). See our deep dive on dark patterns under CCPA 2023 for the full 13-pattern catalogue.
• Consumer Protection Act 2019, §2(47). An unfair trade practice includes adopting any deceptive practice to promote a sale. An unsupervised purchase by a six-year-old, after a countdown timer and a confirm-shaming pop-up, is squarely within §2(47).

Trust signal. The principle that a minor cannot contract was applied to digital services in Vodafone India Services v. Union of India (Bombay High Court, 2014) and to e-commerce purchases by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) in several 2019–2024 decisions concerning unauthorised online charges.

The platform refund clock starts the moment the charge is captured, not when you discover it. Memorise this table or screenshot it now.

If you missed both windows, the bank chargeback rail is next. Visa and Mastercard allow up to 120 days from the transaction date under reason code 13.1 (services not provided) or 10.4 (other fraud, card-absent). RuPay follows NPCI DMS at 45 days. See cyber-fraud chargeback under Visa, Mastercard, RuPay.

The single most important step is not “request a refund”. It is “stop the next charge”. A child who has discovered how to spend ₹500 will discover how to spend ₹5,000 by tomorrow. Lock the device first, then claim the money.

1. Minute 0 to 2. Pick up the phone. Open Settings. Find the app store account. Sign out, or change the password. If the device is shared, change the device unlock PIN immediately. Do not let the child see the new PIN.
2. Minute 2 to 5. Disable one-tap and biometric payment for the store. Android: Play Store → Profile icon → Settings → Authentication → Require authentication for purchases → For all purchases through Google Play on this device. iOS: Settings → Face ID and Passcode → Disable iTunes and App Store, or Settings → Apple ID → Media and Purchases → Password Settings → Always Require for purchases. This single toggle prevents 95 percent of repeat incidents.
3. Minute 5 to 10. Capture evidence. Open the bank SMS thread, the UPI app transaction history, the Play Store or App Store order history. Screenshot each charge with the date and amount visible. Save them in a folder named with today's date.
4. Minute 10 to 15. File the platform refund. Play: https://play.google.com/store/account → tap each order → Report a problem → “I did not authorise this purchase” or “My child purchased without my knowledge”. Apple: https://reportaproblem.apple.com → sign in → tick the boxes for every disputed charge → select “I did not authorise this purchase”. Submit. Most decisions arrive in 24–48 hours.
5. Minute 15 to 20. Set up parental controls. Android: install Google Family Link on both your phone and the child's device, link the child's account, set spending controls to “require approval for purchases”. iOS: enable Screen Time → Content and Privacy Restrictions → iTunes and App Store Purchases → “In-app Purchases: Don't Allow”, and set up Ask to Buy under Family Sharing. Cross-platform: Digital Wellbeing on Android also gives a daily app timer.
6. Minute 20 to 25. Notify the bank. If the platform refund seems unlikely (subscription beyond window, store account compromised, or amount above ₹5,000), call the card issuer's 24×7 grievance number or use the in-app dispute flow. Mention “unauthorised transaction by minor child” specifically. The bank will trigger a temporary hold and send you the chargeback form. Keep the reference number.
7. Minute 25 to 30. Log a parallel NCH 1915 complaint if dark patterns were involved. Dial 1915 or open https://consumerhelpline.gov.in. You will get an acknowledgement number. This is also your evidence layer for the consumer commission filing at e-Daakhil later.

Finish those six steps in 30 minutes and you have done more than 90 percent of victims.

The single biggest reason refund claims fail is missing screenshots. The platform reviewers and the bank dispute teams have no way to know the purchase was unauthorised unless you show them. Build this folder first.

• Bank SMS or email alerts for every disputed charge, with timestamp.
• UPI app transaction list (PhonePe, GPay, Paytm, BHIM) showing the same charges with VPA and reference number.
• Play Store or App Store order history screenshots showing the item bought (gems, coin bundle, subscription, season pass) and the price.
• The game's IAP screen if you can reproduce it without buying again: the offer, the countdown, the confirm button.
• A short note in your own words: “My child age X was using my phone between TIME and TIME on DATE. I was in the kitchen. I did not authorise these purchases. The phone is registered to me, the account-holder, and the UPI handle is in my name.”
• The phone bill or KYC page showing the SIM and the bank account are in your name, not the child's.
• Family Link or Screen Time activation screenshot dated after the incident, to show you have remediated. The platform reviewer marks this positively.
• Any school ID or birth certificate of the child if you are escalating to the consumer commission, to establish the minority status under §11 of the Indian Contract Act.

Store the folder in cloud backup. The bank may take 90 days to close the dispute and Apple may ask twice.

There are five doors. Knock in this sequence, do not skip.

URL: https://play.google.com/store/account. Sign in with the account that made the purchase. Find Order History. Tap the order. Tap Report a problem. Pick “I did not authorise this purchase”. Add a one-line note. Submit.

If the 48-hour window has lapsed, you still have a 7-day extended window for “unintended purchase” via support. Go to https://support.google.com/googleplay → Contact us → Refund → select the order → fill the form → choose chat or call. A human reviewer will pick it up within an hour during India business hours.

Google's published policy is at https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/2479637. The policy text explicitly contemplates child-initiated purchases.

URL: https://reportaproblem.apple.com. Sign in with the account-holder Apple ID, not the child's. You will see every charge from the last 90 days. Tick every line that the child made. Pick the reason “I did not authorise this purchase” or “My child purchased this without my permission”. Submit.

Apple's policy: https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT204084. Apple's reviewers process about half the requests inside 24 hours, and the rest within four to seven business days. If the first request is declined, you can reply to the decision email with one short paragraph repeating that the purchaser was a minor under §11 of the Indian Contract Act and ask for human escalation.

If both platform doors close, write to the bank within 24 hours of discovery. Use the bank's official dispute form, not just a tweet. The reason code you want is “transaction not authorised by cardholder” for a card, or “unauthorised UPI debit” for UPI under RBI's Customer Protection Master Direction RBI/2017–18/15 dated 6 July 2017.

• Card route. Bank raises a chargeback to the acquirer (the platform's bank) under Visa, Mastercard or RuPay scheme rules. Within 45 to 120 days you get either a credit reversal or a final rejection. RBI's zero-liability framework limits your loss to a small slab if you report inside the golden hour.
• UPI route. The bank raises a dispute via the NPCI DMS portal. The acquirer bank then routes to Google or Apple's settlement bank.

If the bank stalls or refuses, escalate to the Banking Ombudsman under the RB-IOS 2021 scheme by writing to https://cms.rbi.org.in. See our walkthrough at bank freeze cyber-fraud SOP which covers the exact letter wording.

National Consumer Helpline at 1915 is your low-effort national channel. Call, or use https://consumerhelpline.gov.in, or the UMANG app, or email [email protected]. You will get a docket number within 30 minutes. The CCPA picks the docket and forwards it to the merchant for a written response inside 30 days.

If the game used a dark pattern, name the pattern. Confirm shaming, false urgency, basket sneaking, drip pricing or subscription trap are the five most common in mobile games. Quote the relevant clause of the Dark Patterns Guidelines 2023. The CCPA can fine the platform up to ₹10 lakh first offence and ₹50 lakh per repeat offence under §21 of CPA 2019. See NCH 1915 walkthrough for the script and timeline.

If the amount is more than ₹1,000 and the platform plus bank route together did not give you a remedy, file a consumer complaint online at https://edaakhil.nic.in. The District Commission has jurisdiction up to ₹50 lakh under §34 of CPA 2019. The State Commission goes up to ₹2 crore. The case is filed in the district where you live or where the cause of action arose.

Your prayer should ask for:

• Full refund of the disputed amount.
• Interest at 9 to 12 percent per annum from the date of debit.
• Compensation for mental agony, typically ₹10,000 to ₹50,000 in similar cases.
• Litigation costs, typically ₹5,000 to ₹15,000.

The fee for a district complaint up to ₹5 lakh is ₹100. For ₹5 to 10 lakh it is ₹400. See e-Daakhil filing walkthrough for the form-by-form upload steps.

Parents under stress sometimes call 1930 or rush to a cyber-crime cell. Do not do this for an in-app purchase by your own child. The 1930 helpline is for non-consensual fraud by a third party. A child using a parent's phone, with stored credentials and biometric, is technically authorised at the rails level. The cyber-cell will record it as a “domestic dispute” and refuse FIR, and the FIR refusal entry can hurt your later consumer-commission case. Stay on the consumer track.

There is one narrow exception. If the in-app environment also exposed the child to predatory content, grooming or solicitation by an adult, then the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 (POCSO) kicks in for the predator. That is a separate FIR, separate process, and you should call 1098 (CHILDLINE) and file under POCSO. POCSO is not the route for refund. Refund is consumer law. Predator content is criminal law. Keep them in two different files.

Locking the device after the loss is the second half of the job. Here is the platform-by-platform map.

Install Family Link from Play Store on both phones. Link the child's Google account, or create a supervised account for under-13.

Then turn on:

• Approve purchases. Family Link, child's profile, Controls, Purchase and download approvals, Require approval for “All content including free items”.
• Daily screen time limit. Set 30 to 90 minutes depending on age.
• App-specific limits. Set the game to 0 minutes to block, or 15 minutes per day to allow.
• Bedtime lock between 9 pm and 7 am.

Documentation: https://families.google.com/familylink.

Settings, Screen Time, Turn On Screen Time, pick “This is My Child's iPhone” or “This is My iPhone”.

Then turn on:

• Content and Privacy Restrictions, iTunes and App Store Purchases, In-app Purchases: Don't Allow.
• Ask to Buy. Settings, your name, Family Sharing, add child, Ask to Buy: ON. Every child purchase needs your tap-approval.
• App Limits for the specific game or the whole Games category.
• Downtime to block non-essential apps during school hours.

Documentation: https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT201304.

Even without Family Link, use the built-in Digital Wellbeing dashboard. Settings, Digital Wellbeing and parental controls, App timers, set the game to 0 minutes. Best for a shared phone where you do not want a full supervised account.

• UPI per-transaction and per-day limits. Open your UPI app, Profile, UPI limits. Cap per-transaction at ₹2,000 and per day at ₹5,000.
• Card e-commerce off by default. Internet banking, Cards, Manage Channels, switch Online and contactless OFF. Turn ON only for a planned purchase. SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis, Kotak all support this since RBI's tokenisation mandate.
• Disable UPI Autopay mandates. See the UPI Autopay mandate guide to revoke silent recurring mandates.
• Cancel auto-renewing subscriptions. See the subscription auto-debit cancellation guide.

A casual game has no business reading your SMS or contacts. Use the app permissions audit guide to reset them.

Use this on https://reportaproblem.apple.com, or in the Google Play “Report a problem” free-text field, or as the body of an email to the platform's grievance officer.

Subject: Refund request for unauthorised in-app purchase by minor child, Order ID [ORDER-ID]

To the Refund Team,

I am writing to request a full refund for the in-app purchases listed below, which were made by my minor child without my knowledge or consent on [DATE].

Account holder: [YOUR NAME]
Account email: [YOUR EMAIL]
Device: [iPhone / Android model]
Purchase date and time: [DATE, IST]
Order IDs: [LIST]
Total amount: ₹[AMOUNT]
App or game: [GAME NAME]

Background. The account, the device, the card and the UPI handle are all registered in my name. My child, aged [AGE], was using the device for [PURPOSE: study, recreation, school class] on the date above. The purchases were initiated by the child while I was not in the room. The child does not have my authorisation to enter into any payment or contract.

Legal position. Under §11 of the Indian Contract Act 1872 a minor is incompetent to contract and any contract entered into by a minor is void ab initio (Mohori Bibee v. Dharmodas Ghose, (1903) ILR 30 Cal 539). Money paid under a void contract is recoverable under §65 of the same Act. The CCPA Dark Patterns Guidelines 2023 also prohibit confirm-shaming and false-urgency design patterns that targeted my child.

Remedy requested. Please refund ₹[AMOUNT] to the original payment method within seven business days. I have since enabled [Family Link / Screen Time / Ask to Buy] to prevent recurrence.

Evidence attached. Screenshots of order history, bank debit alerts, and Family Link / Screen Time activation.

Thank you for a quick resolution.

Regards,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR PHONE]
[YOUR EMAIL]

If the platform refunds, you are done. If it refuses, take this email plus the rejection email to the bank dispute team and to e-Daakhil.

• Calling 1930 first. Cyber-helpline is the wrong door, see Door 5 caveat above.
• Filing an FIR. Stations refuse, and the refusal slip damages the consumer case.
• Confronting the game studio. They cannot refund, the platform took the money.
• Missing the 48-hour Google Play window. After 48 hours self-service ends. Use the 7-day extended support flow.
• Disputing the bank charge without first asking the platform. Banks ask “did you contact the merchant first” and reject if not. Always file the platform claim, screenshot the rejection, then go to the bank.
• Letting the auto-renew run another month. Cancel the subscription today even before the refund decision arrives.
• Not enabling Ask to Buy on iOS. The single highest-leverage toggle on Apple, free.
• Trusting fingerprint or face unlock for purchases on a shared device. If your child can use your face to unlock the phone, your face also approves payments. Disable biometric for store purchases.
• Storing the card in the Play Store / App Store as the only payment method. Add a UPI handle with a low daily limit instead, so the maximum bleed is capped.
• Ignoring the dark-pattern angle. Calling out confirm shaming and false urgency in the refund request raises the approval rate visibly.

On Apple, yes if you are still inside the 90-day window. Go to https://reportaproblem.apple.com immediately. On Google Play, the 48-hour self-service window has closed but support can still review under “unintended purchase” if you call within 7 to 14 days. After that, your only route is the bank chargeback (up to 120 days for Visa and Mastercard, 45 days for RuPay) and the consumer commission via e-Daakhil.

No. A “no refund” clause in an app's terms of service cannot override §11 of the Indian Contract Act 1872 (minor cannot contract) or the CCPA Dark Patterns Guidelines 2023 under §18 of the Consumer Protection Act 2019. The Supreme Court in Central Inland Water Transport Corporation v. Brojo Nath Ganguly (1986) 3 SCC 156 ruled unconscionable terms in standard-form contracts unenforceable. The “all final” clause is unconscionable when applied to a minor.

No. Biometric authentication confirms the device holder, not the legal account holder's intent. The transaction is still “unauthorised” because it was not specifically authorised by you for that purchase. Banks accept this framing under RBI's Customer Protection Master Direction. The platform reviewers also accept it because they see thousands of child-purchase cases every week.

Maybe, but the bar rises. Apple and Google both note “repeated unauthorised purchase claims” on the account. The second refund is harder, the third is unlikely. Treat the first refund as a one-time bailout and lock the device immediately with Family Link or Screen Time. If you cannot keep the child off the device, change the store account password and remove all stored payment methods.

Cancel before you raise the refund request, in this order. iOS: Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions → tap subscription → Cancel. Android: Play Store → Profile → Subscriptions → tap → Cancel. The cancellation stops the next billing cycle. Then request a refund for the most recent cycle as a separate flow. Follow the subscription auto-debit cancellation guide for the per-app instructions including OTT and gym apps.

Two reasons. First, the charge may have gone through a different Apple ID on the same device. Settings → Apple ID → Media and Purchases → check which ID is signed in for purchases. Second, the charge may have been a carrier billing through your phone bill on Android-style carrier billing, which Apple does not offer. For carrier billing, log into your Jio, Airtel or Vi app and check Recent Charges.

Yes. The minority threshold under §11 of the Indian Contract Act 1872 is 18 years, not the more colloquial “old enough to know better”. A 16-year-old, a 17-year-old and a 17-year-and-364-days-old child is equally incompetent to contract in Indian law. The platforms know this and apply the same rule.

It is incorrect as a blanket statement. Under NPCI's UPI Disputes Management System (DMS) circulars and RBI's Customer Protection Master Direction, the bank must raise a chargeback request on your behalf within 30 days of your written complaint. They can refuse only after raising and losing the dispute. If they refuse to file at all, escalate to the Banking Ombudsman under RB-IOS 2021 at https://cms.rbi.org.in. See the bank freeze and cyber-fraud SOP for the exact bank letter wording.

You do not sue the studio, you sue the platform. Google India (Pvt) Ltd in Hyderabad and Apple India Pvt Ltd in Bangalore are both registered Indian companies with grievance officers under §28A of the IT Act 2000 and Rule 3(2) of the Intermediary Guidelines 2021. They are subject to Indian consumer commission jurisdiction. The studio's country of incorporation does not matter for the refund flow.

Yes. The platform refunds the rupee charge regardless of whether the child has “used” the gems inside the game. The platform deducts the gem balance from the game-side account along with the refund, and that is a matter between Google or Apple and the studio, not your concern. Do not let the in-game customer support tell you otherwise.

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• Indian Contract Act 1872, §11. https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/2187
• Indian Contract Act 1872, §65. https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/2187
• Consumer Protection Act 2019. https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/15871
• Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023 (CCPA, Department of Consumer Affairs). https://doca.gov.in/ccpa/files/The%20Guidelines%20for%20Prevention%20and%20Regulation%20of%20Dark%20Patterns,%202023_1732707717.pdf
• Apple App Store refund request. https://reportaproblem.apple.com and policy at https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT204084
• Google Play refund policy. https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/2479637
• Google Family Link. https://families.google.com/familylink
• Apple Family Sharing and Ask to Buy. https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT201304
• RBI Customer Protection Master Direction (limiting liability in unauthorised electronic banking transactions). https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_ViewMasDirections.aspx
• National Consumer Helpline. https://consumerhelpline.gov.in and dial 1915.
• e-Daakhil online consumer commission filing. https://edaakhil.nic.in
• POCSO Act 2012 (only for predatory content cases, not for refund). https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/2079
• Banking Ombudsman, RB-IOS 2021. https://cms.rbi.org.in
• Mohori Bibee v. Dharmodas Ghose (1903) ILR 30 Cal 539.
• Central Inland Water Transport Corporation v. Brojo Nath Ganguly (1986) 3 SCC 156.

• Dark patterns under CCPA 2023: your rights as an Indian consumer
• Subscription auto-debit trap and how to cancel it in India
• UPI Autopay mandate fraud and how to revoke
• Cyber-fraud chargeback: Visa, Mastercard, RuPay in India
• Bank freeze cyber-fraud SOP
• NCH 1915 consumer helpline walkthrough
• e-Daakhil online consumer commission filing
• App permissions: camera, contacts, SMS, location audit
• Citizen RTI playbook
• Middle-class traps to avoid in India

A wide-angle, photo-realistic 1200×630 cinematic image. An anxious Indian parent in her early thirties looks at a smartphone in a softly-lit middle-class living room in Pune. The phone screen shows a stack of bank SMS debit alerts in Hindi-English mixed text, totals around 7898 rupees, time stamped 11:47 PM. A six-year-old girl in pyjamas sits cross-legged on a beige sofa, holding an iPad with a colourful mobile game open, a glowing countdown timer at 02:00, large red “Buy Now” button. Warm tungsten lamp casts amber light, dramatic shadow on the wall. On the coffee table: a half-eaten roti on a steel plate, a sleeping cat, a notebook with “Family Link” written in blue ink. Composition: parent on left, child on right, both faces visible but not centred, leaving negative space on the upper right for headline overlay. Mood: stressed but solvable. Style: photojournalistic, 35 mm, f/2.8, shallow depth of field, no text in image. Aspect ratio 1200×630.