Customer Grievance Redressal Policy

Introduction

Cashfree Payments India Private Limited is a company incorporated under the Companies Act 2013, with its registered office at Building No. 7, 10th Floor, Ecoworld, Sarjapur Marathalli Outer Ring Road, Bellandur, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, 560103. Cashfree provides payments solutions including payment aggregator and gateway services that help businesses collect and disburse payments.

Cashfree facilitates a variety of Business Institutions ("Merchants") to collect payments from their end customers through its powerful, scalable, tailor-made payments platform for both domestic and international transactions. Cashfree offers multiple products to its Merchants, allowing them to collect payments in a secure, transparent, affordable, and convenient manner from their end customers.

As a service-oriented financial services company, satisfaction of Merchants and Customers using Cashfree is of prime importance to maintain lasting relationships and encourage digital transactions in a safe and secured way.

This Policy has been delineated and duly approved by Cashfree's Board of Directors to define mechanisms that:

  1. Ensure Merchants and Customers are treated fairly and without bias always
  2. Provide opportunities for Merchants and Customers to raise and escalate complaints within and outside Cashfree if unsatisfied with products or services

Objective & Scope

This Policy aims to:

Applicability: This Policy applies to all regulated products and services offered by Cashfree.

Governance & Oversight

The Board oversees the implementation of Cashfree's Grievance Redressal framework and is responsible for:

Nodal Officer Responsibilities

The Nodal Officer shall, on a quarterly basis:

Senior Management includes Business Unit heads of functions contributing to the majority of grievances during the review period.

Record Keeping

Cashfree maintains records pertaining to customer complaints for at least five years after the business relationship ends. Timely backup of system data of complaints is taken to ensure data availability at all times.

Definitions

Customer(s)

An end-customer who purchases goods/services from Merchants by making payment via different payment instruments, or an individual or entity who is an end-user of PPI wallet-based products and services offered by Cashfree.

Merchant(s)

A user of Cashfree's services for accepting various payment instruments from Customers for completion of their payment obligations.

Complaint(s)

Service deficiency or error on the part of Cashfree in offering any service and/or non-conformance in any of Cashfree's products/processes leading to a dispute/grievance by the Merchant or Customer.

Examples of complaints include:

Grievance Redressal and Escalation Matrix

Grievance Redressal Framework

Merchants/Customers having any Query, Feedback, or Complaint pertaining to transactions they may have processed or attempted to process using Cashfree's platform, or regarding products or services offered by Cashfree, may directly reach out to Cashfree via the following channels:

  1. Cashfree Support Page: Visit https://www.cashfree.com/support/ and refer to information provided in FAQ format for specific queries/issues related to complaints/grievances

  2. Transaction Status Check: Customers may check the status of their transactions using the reference number provided by Cashfree at https://www.cashfree.com/en/report-issue

Complaint Processing

Upon receipt of a query, feedback, or complaint from a Customer or Merchant:

If Merchants or Customers are not satisfied with the resolution provided, they may use the escalation mechanisms detailed below.

Additionally, Customers may reach out to Cashfree through alternate channels such as:

Escalation Matrix & Turn Around Time for Disposal of Complaints

Level 1: Escalations Team

Contact: [email protected]

Response Time: Cashfree shall attempt to respond within 5 business days from the date the grievance was filed.

Status Tracking: Cashfree provides an option to Customers/Merchants to seek/track the status of their grievances throughout the lifecycle via email and/or through the merchant dashboard.

Updates: The Merchant/Customer may request an update on the grievance if it requires more than the specified time period. The Merchant/Customer shall be kept updated on the status of their complaint(s).

If the Merchant/Customer is not satisfied with the response provided, they can proceed to the next level of escalation.

Level 2: Grievance Officer

If the Merchant/Customer still has any complaint/grievance, they may escalate to Cashfree's Grievance Officer:

Nodal Officer (Grievance Redressal): Vaibhav Kaushal

Address: Cashfree Payments India Pvt Ltd, Building No. 7, 10th Floor, Ecoworld, Sarjapur Marathalli Outer Ring Road, Bellandur, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, 560103

Email: [email protected]

Response Time: The Grievance Officer shall attempt to respond within 5 business days from the date the grievance was filed.

Updates: The merchant/customer may request an update on the grievance if it requires more than the specified time period. The Merchant/Customer shall be kept updated on the status of their complaint(s).

Level 3: RBI's Integrated Ombudsman

If the Merchant/Customer is not satisfied with the resolution provided by Cashfree, or has not received a reply within 30 days of filing the complaint with Cashfree, they can file a complaint with the RBI's Integrated Ombudsman.

Complaint Portal: https://cms.rbi.org.in/

Toll-Free Phone: 14448

Email: [email protected]

Address: Centralised Receipt and Processing Center, Reserve Bank of India, 4th Floor, Sector 17, Chandigarh, PIN – 160017

More Information: For details about the RBI's Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, refer to: RBI Ombudsman

Public Display of Grievance Redressal Mechanism

Cashfree displays the Grievance Redressal Mechanism on its website at https://www.cashfree.com/support/ to increase awareness among Merchants and Customers.

Regulatory Reporting

Cashfree shall:

Dispute Management/Chargebacks Mechanism

A dispute, also known as 'chargeback', arises when a Customer raises a claim with the Issuing Bank for a purchase/transaction made on their account.

Reasons for Chargebacks

Card networks and regulated entities such as National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) provide rights to cardholders/consumers to claim a chargeback for various reasons:

The timelines for raising disputes may vary from card association to card association.

Chargeback Process

The chargeback process involves multiple parties: the cardholder, the issuer, the acquirer, the processor, and the merchant who renders goods or services. Each party has different responsibilities in the lifecycle.

Process Overview:

When a customer reaches out to the Issuing Bank/other institution and disputes a transaction made using their payment mode/mechanism on the merchant site:

  1. Dispute Notification: The acquiring partner sends Cashfree a dispute notification to determine the validity of the transaction. Cashfree creates a dispute corresponding to such transaction(s) in its system.

  2. Merchant Notification: Upon receiving notification from the bank, Cashfree notifies the merchant with dispute details to submit supporting documents.

  3. Document Submission: Once the Merchant uploads documents for evaluation, Cashfree submits them to the banks for review.

  4. Bank Analysis: The banking partner analyses the evidence/documents and determines whether services were delivered by the Merchant as promised.

Chargeback Resolution

A chargeback case may have one of the following outcomes:

Possibility Outcome
Acceptance When the Customer's chargeback is valid, the Merchant may choose to accept the chargeback. An acceptance results in a credit to the Customer's account as per network timelines and a permanent debit to the Merchant's account.
Contestation/Representation When services/goods are rendered against the said payment, the Merchant can upload relevant documents such as proof of delivery, service utilisation proofs, etc. The documents submitted are further represented to the acquiring banks and subsequently to the issuers and networks.
Deemed Accepted If a chargeback is not represented/accepted by the Merchant within the given timeline, the chargeback is deemed as accepted and the decision is not reversible. As in the case of acceptance, this results in a permanent debit to the Merchant's Cashfree account.

Refunds

Customers may request a refund from the Merchant due to reasons such as:

Merchants can initiate refunds against transactions with Cashfree payments, which are posted to the original method of payment unless otherwise agreed by the end Customer. Credits for such refunds or reversals are routed back through Cashfree's PA escrow account.

Refund Processing Timelines

Acceptance Period: Refund requests are not accepted after a period of 120 days from the date of the transaction unless the acquiring banking partners support such a request.

Processing Time: Once the refund is initiated with the bank, it generally takes about 5 to 7 working days to get reflected on the customer's account/card statement. However, actual timelines may differ given the dependencies of multiple stakeholders involved during the process.

Failed Transactions and Reversals

As per RBI's Notification on Harmonisation of Turnaround Time (TAT) and customer compensation for failed transactions:

Definition of Failed Transaction

A 'failed transaction' is a transaction which has not been fully completed due to any reason not attributable to the customer, such as:

Failed transactions also include credits which could not be affected to the beneficiary account due to:

Coverage: Domestic transactions (where both the originator and beneficiary are within India) are covered as part of the circular.

Cashfree's Commitment

Cashfree shall ensure that:

Fraud Alerts from Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA)

When Cashfree receives an alert from Law Enforcement Agencies through NCRP portal, email communications from Income Tax Department, MHA, etc., regarding unauthorised transactions in a Customer's account:

Cashfree's Actions

Cashfree shall:

Dedicated LEA Support Team

Cashfree has laid down a dedicated team to handle such requests, along with a Nodal Officer:

Nodal Officer (LEA Support)

Address: Cashfree Payments India Pvt Ltd, Building No. 7, 10th Floor, Ecoworld, Sarjapur Marathalli Outer Ring Road, Bellandur, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, 560103

Email: [email protected]

Details of the Nodal Officer are updated on Cashfree's website.

Policy Review

This Policy is subject to review by the Board of Directors of Cashfree as and when deemed necessary. The Board of Directors shall annually review the functioning of the grievance redressal mechanism.

Obligation of Secrecy

Cashfree shall maintain secrecy regarding Merchant/Customer information which arises out of the contractual relationship between Cashfree and the Merchant.

Information Disclosure Guidelines

When considering requests for data/information from the Government and other agencies, Cashfree shall satisfy themselves that the information being sought does not violate provisions of laws relating to secrecy in banking transactions.

Exceptions to Secrecy

Disclosure is permitted when:

Cross-Selling Restriction

Customer information shall not be divulged for the purpose of cross-selling or for any other purpose without the express permission of the Customer.

Applicable Regulations/Guidelines

This Policy is subject to applicable laws including but not limited to the rules, regulations, guidelines, directives, and instructions issued by the RBI from time to time. This Policy supersedes the earlier version and includes the following:

Any change/amendment in applicable laws regarding the maintenance of an appropriate grievance redressal mechanism shall be deemed to be incorporated in this Policy by reference, and this Policy shall be deemed to have been amended and revised accordingly.

About Cashfree Payments

Cashfree Payments enables 1 Million+ growing businesses in India and across the globe to collect payments, make payouts, manage international payments, and more. Cashfree Payments is backed by SBI, Y Combinator, Krafton, and Apis partners and was incubated by PayPal.

Regulatory Authorizations

RBI Authorised Payment Aggregator License

Certificate of Authorisation No. 266/2025

RBI Authorised Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) Provider

Certificate of Authorisation No. 209/2024