UPI AutoPay Debit After Free Trial: Cancel Mandate and Get Refund

Rohit took a “7-day free trial” for a study app. The app asked him to approve a UPI request. He thought it was only Rs 1 for checking the account.

After one month, Rs 999 went out. Next month, another Rs 999 went out.

The app said, “You accepted AutoPay.”

Rohit was angry, but the real fix was not shouting at customer care. The first fix was to open his UPI app and cancel the active mandate.

UPI AutoPay is a UPI mandate for recurring payments. A mandate means permission.

It can be used for:

• OTT or app subscription
• loan EMI collection
• insurance premium
• mutual fund SIP
• school fee or utility bill
• membership renewal

Simple rule: if the screen says mandate, AutoPay, recurring, frequency, validity or UMIN, it is not a normal one-time payment.

Money debited by UPI AutoPay
        |
        v
Open UPI app > Mandates / AutoPay
        |
        v
Can you see the merchant mandate?
        |
   yes  |  no
        |----------------------------.
        v                            v
Pause or revoke it now              Ask bank / UPI app for UMIN
        |                            |
        v                            v
Screenshot success screen           File written complaint
        |                            |
        v                            v
Ask merchant for refund             Use UPI Help if needed
        |
        v
Was the debit unauthorised?
        |
        v
Report to bank immediately under RBI customer-liability rule

The exact words change by app, but the path is usually like this:

1. Open your UPI app.
2. Tap profile, bank account, payments, mandates or AutoPay.
3. Open “Active mandates”.
4. Tap the merchant name.
5. Check amount, frequency, start date, end date and UMIN.
6. Tap revoke, cancel or pause.
7. Save the screenshot showing status as revoked or paused.

If your app does not show the mandate, contact your bank and ask for the UMIN or mandate reference number.

Use short words.

Subject: Refund request for UPI AutoPay debit after cancellation / without clear consent

My account was debited Rs [amount] on [date] through UPI AutoPay.
UPI transaction ID:
Mandate UMIN / reference:
Merchant account / app ID:

I have revoked / paused the mandate on [date].
Please refund the debit and confirm that no further debit will be made.

If you claim I gave consent, please send the mandate acceptance record,
plan terms, renewal notice and cancellation policy.

Write to the bank or UPI app if:

• the app does not let you revoke the mandate
• money was debited after revocation
• the merchant refuses to show consent proof
• the debit amount is higher than the mandate amount
• the UPI ID looks fake

Ask for transaction reversal, mandate status, UMIN, merchant VPA and complaint number.

An expert reading is this:

• A free trial is safe only if you know where the cancel button is.
• A mandate is a door key. If you do not revoke it, the merchant may keep using it.
• The most important proof is not your anger. It is the UMIN, transaction ID, mandate screen and cancellation screenshot.
• If the payment was fraud, speed matters more than perfect drafting. Report first. Explain later.

• Search “mandates” in every UPI app once a month.
• Set a calendar reminder 1 day before a trial ends.
• Do not enter UPI PIN for a “refund”. Refunds do not need your PIN.
• Read amount, frequency and end date before approving AutoPay.
• If the screen says “validity”, it may create future debit permission.
• Keep SMS alerts on for the bank account linked to UPI.
• Use a small-balance bank account for trial subscriptions.

Use cybercrime.gov.in or 1930 when the AutoPay is part of fraud, fake app, impersonation, phishing, screen-share fraud or money-mule transfer. Do not use only merchant support if a criminal trick was used.

• UPI AutoPay mandate fraud
• Spot a UPI mandate-fraud request
• UPI fraud recovery
• NACH or ECS debit without consent
• Cyber fraud command desk
• Banking command desk

Real photo: Mobile Payment by Richard Tanzer Fotografie / VeroPay, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized for web. The photo is a generic mobile-payment scene, not an official UPI screen.

• NPCI UPI AutoPay product page
• NPCI UPI AutoPay brand and mandate guidelines PDF
• NPCI UPI Help
• RBI customer liability for unauthorised electronic banking transactions
• National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal

Last reviewed: 2 July 2026.