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| + | ====== Auto-debit continues after card replacement? | ||
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| + | <WRAP center round info 95%> | ||
| + | **Quick Reply:** Subscriptions still charging your new card after replacement? | ||
| + | </ | ||
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| + | **Reviewed on:** 2026-06-12. | ||
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| + | {{: | ||
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| + | Your old card was blocked and replaced, yet the subscription charge landed on the new card. Start with the route that matches your case: | ||
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| + | * **If the charge is a recurring subscription on the card** (OTT app, gym, cloud storage, insurance premium set up on the card), it is an e-mandate. E-mandates do not die with the old card. Cancel the mandate itself, through your bank's card or net banking portal, and tell the merchant in writing. | ||
| + | * **If the charge is a standing instruction on the account**, not the card, cancel it through net banking or a written request at the branch. Card replacement never touches account-level instructions. | ||
| + | * **If the debit came with no advance alert**, dispute it. Under RBI's e-mandate framework the bank must send you a pre-debit notification at least 24 hours before charging. A recurring debit without that notice is a valid dispute. | ||
| + | * **If you already cancelled and the debits continue**, treat each further debit as unauthorised. Complain in writing, demand reversal, and escalate to the RBI Ombudsman at [[https:// | ||
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| + | ===== Why the new card keeps getting charged ===== | ||
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| + | Many readers assume that blocking a card kills every payment linked to it. It does not. Card networks run an update service that maps your existing mandates and saved-card tokens to the replacement card. This is by design, so that genuine subscriptions continue without re-registration. The side effect is that an auto-debit you wanted to end simply follows you to the new card. | ||
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| + | So the card is not the switch. The mandate is the switch. Until the mandate is cancelled at the bank or at the merchant, any card the bank issues you can be charged. | ||
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| + | ===== What RBI's e-mandate framework gives you ===== | ||
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| + | The framework for recurring card payments gives you three practical handles: | ||
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| + | - **Pre-debit notification.** The issuing bank must notify you at least 24 hours before each recurring debit, by SMS or email, showing the merchant, amount and date. | ||
| + | - **Cancellation at the bank.** You have the right to cancel or pause a mandate through the issuing bank, without the merchant' | ||
| + | - **Additional factor for larger debits.** Recurring debits above the prescribed limit, currently Rs 15,000 per transaction, | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== Kill the mandate properly: both ends ===== | ||
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| + | Cancelling at one end only is the usual reason the debit returns. | ||
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| + | - **Bank end:** log in to net banking or the card app, open the recurring payments or mandate section, and cancel the specific mandate. Screenshot the cancellation confirmation with the date visible. | ||
| + | - **Merchant end:** cancel the subscription in the merchant' | ||
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| + | If a debit lands after both cancellations, | ||
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| + | ===== Disputing a debit that should not have happened ===== | ||
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| + | Write to the card-issuing bank, not just the merchant. A short format: | ||
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| + | < | ||
| + | To: The Grievance Cell, [Bank Name] | ||
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| + | Subject: Unauthorised recurring debit of Rs [amount] on [date] after mandate | ||
| + | cancellation, | ||
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| + | On [date] I cancelled the e-mandate for [merchant] through [net banking / | ||
| + | card app], confirmation attached. On [date] I also cancelled the subscription | ||
| + | with the merchant, email attached. Despite this, Rs [amount] was debited on | ||
| + | [date]. I also did not receive the 24-hour pre-debit notification required | ||
| + | under the RBI e-mandate framework. | ||
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| + | I request: (1) reversal of Rs [amount], (2) permanent cancellation of this | ||
| + | mandate, and (3) a written reply with the complaint number. | ||
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| + | [Name, registered mobile, date] | ||
| + | </ | ||
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| + | Keep the complaint number. If the bank rejects the dispute or stays silent for 30 days, file at cms.rbi.org.in under the Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021. It is free and covers private and public banks alike. | ||
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| + | ===== A trap to avoid: the insurance and loan-linked mandate ===== | ||
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| + | One wrinkle costs people the most. If the auto-debit pays an insurance premium or a loan EMI, do not cancel the mandate before you have set up a replacement payment method. A bounced premium can lapse the policy, and a bounced EMI hurts your credit record and attracts penalty charges. Cancel and replace in the same week, and tell the insurer or lender in writing which instrument now pays. | ||
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| + | ===== Does RTI help here? ===== | ||
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| + | Usually no, and it is worth being clear about it. The dispute is with your bank and the merchant, both acting under contract. If your card is from a private bank such as HDFC, ICICI or Axis, the RTI Act does not apply to it at all. If it is a public-sector bank, an RTI can fetch the bank's record of your mandate cancellation request and the dates it was acted on, which is useful evidence if the bank claims you never cancelled. See [[file-rti-online-india|how to file RTI online]] for the process. For the actual refund, the working route is the bank's grievance cell and then the RBI Ombudsman. | ||
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| + | ===== FAQs ===== | ||
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| + | ==== I blocked my card after fraud. Can the new card still be auto-debited? | ||
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| + | Yes. Mandates and saved-card tokens are carried to the replacement card by the network' | ||
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| + | ==== The bank says only the merchant can cancel the mandate. Is that right? ==== | ||
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| + | No. Under RBI's e-mandate framework, the issuing bank must let you cancel a mandate from your side. Put the request in writing if the app has no option, and quote the framework. A refusal in writing strengthens an Ombudsman complaint. | ||
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| + | ==== I never got a pre-debit SMS. Does that make the debit refundable? ==== | ||
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| + | It makes it disputable. The 24-hour pre-debit notification is a requirement on the bank. Raise the missing notice in your dispute and ask for reversal. Banks settle these quickly because the lapse is theirs, not yours. | ||
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| + | ==== Will cancelling the mandate get back money already debited? ==== | ||
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| + | No. Cancellation is forward-looking. For past debits, raise a dispute for each debit that happened after your cancellation date or without notice, and ask for reversal with dates listed. | ||
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| + | ==== The merchant is foreign and has no support channel. What do I do? ==== | ||
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| + | Cancel at the bank end, which needs no merchant cooperation, | ||
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| + | ==== How long does the Ombudsman route take? ==== | ||
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| + | You can file 30 days after your written complaint to the bank, or earlier if rejected. File within one year of the bank's reply. The process at cms.rbi.org.in is online and free. | ||
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| + | ===== Related guides ===== | ||
| + | |||
| + | * [[practical-guides: | ||
| + | * [[practical-guides: | ||
| + | * [[practical-guides: | ||
| + | * [[practical-guides: | ||
| + | * [[practical-guides: | ||
| + | * [[file-rti-online-india|How to file RTI online]] | ||
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| + | Download the e-mandate cancellation checklist (PDF). | ||
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| + | {{tag> | ||