Cancellation guide
Stop a recurring card payment
A recurring card payment (also called a standing instruction or e-mandate) lets a merchant charge your debit or credit card on a schedule. In India these are registered with your card issuer, so you can usually stop them from the bank's side as well as the merchant's.
Steps
- Cancel the subscription with the merchant in their app or website. See cancelling with the merchant.
- Remove the mandate with your card issuer. In your bank's app or net banking, look for a section named Standing instructions, E-mandates, Recurring payments or Manage card. Find the merchant and cancel it.
- Use the pre-debit notification. Card issuers usually send an SMS or email before each recurring charge, and it often includes a link or instructions to opt out.
- Save the confirmation and check that the next billing date passes without a charge.
If the charge continues
- Call the card issuer's customer care, tell them you have cancelled the mandate, and ask them to block further charges from that merchant. Ask about disputing any charge made after you cancelled.
- As a last resort, the issuer can block and reissue the card. That stops every saved payment on it, so update the ones you want to keep.
- Cancelling a loan EMI, insurance premium or SIP mandate stops the payment, not the loan, policy or investment. Missed payments can bring penalties, a lapsed policy or a lower credit score. Talk to the lender or provider first.
- Keep every confirmation: screenshots, emails and reference numbers. You will need them if a charge comes back.
- Check your next statement to make sure the debit has actually stopped.
App menus and bank processes change and differ between providers; if a step doesn't match what you see, your bank's or app's help section or customer care can point you to the current option. This guide is general information, not financial or legal advice.