How to reverse UPI payments when money is wrongly transferred or is in pending status

Ever wondered how to get your payment reversed in case you transfer money to the wrong person or your money is stuck in pending status? It’s not uncommon to accidentally transfer money to the wrong person. You may have entered a wrong digit of the phone number, typed in the wrong UPI ID, or simply clicked on the wrong person’s chat to transfer money, only to realise post transaction that you sent money to the wrong person! In such cases or when a payment has gone into pending status, you can get your payment reversed by following the procedure detailed in this blog.

What is an incorrect money transfer?

When you transfer money to the wrong person instead of the intended recipient, it is referred to as an incorrect or wrong money transfer.

What to do when you make a wrong money transfer

Since money transfers via UPI directly credits the transferred money to the receiver’s bank account, reversing the money transfer is a challenging feat. Banks do not allow us to cancel or reverse UPI payments. For money to be reversed, it is mandatory for the receiver to provide their consent to the bank to transfer funds.

If the receiver is a family or friend, it would be quite simple to get the money back, however in case you make a wrong transfer and are unable to retrieve your funds, here’s what you need to do:

1. Contact your bank directly and raise a wrong credit chargeback with the Unique Transaction Reference (UTR) number of the payment.
2. In case the person you’ve incorrectly sent money to holds an account with your bank, your bank can directly contact them on your behalf and request to reverse the money to you.
3. In case the person you’ve incorrectly sent money to holds an account with another bank, your bank can only act as a facilitator, and provide you with some details of the branch. You will need to visit the branch and speak to the manager for further assistance.
4. The money can only be reversed if the receiver agrees. If they do, the money will be transferred to your account within 7 days.
5. If the receiver fails to respond to your request or the bank is unable to retrieve the amount, you can file a complaint on the NPCI portal (https://npci.org.in/).
6. After following the above processes, if the complaint remains unresolved, post 30 days you can approach the Banking Ombudsman and escalate the issue.

What is a pending transaction?

A pending transaction typically refers to a payment that goes into pending status after money is deducted. This could occur in multiple variations — you make a payment and the transaction is completed from your end but the recipient does not receive the money, the payment stays in pending status, or your transaction is cancelled but you do not receive the deducted money back.

What to do when your payment is in pending status

1. Please be patient. In this case, your money is safe and secure and you will shortly receive the money back.
2. Report the issue on the PhonePe app so that we can track the progress.
3. You will need to wait for 48 hours for your bank to update the final status of the payment. If the payment is successful from your end, the amount will be deposited into the receiver’s account.
4. In case the payment failed, the amount will be reversed to your account within 3–5 business days, from the payment date.
5. For a faster resolution, you can always contact your bank and raise a complaint citing the UTR number of the transaction.
6. After completion of the stipulated time you can always escalate this matter on the PhonePe app so that we can help sort the issue and initiate appropriate action on the transaction.

To raise an issue, login to your PhonePe app and go to ‘Help.’ Alternatively, you can log in to support.phonepe.com or get in touch via Twitter.