Grievance Redressal Policy

Introduction

The objective of our grievance redressal policy is to provide timely and comprehensive resolution to customer complaints, queries and grievances.

The policy encompasses the following key aspects:

  • Disposal of Complaints
  • Handling of Grievances
  • Management of Chargebacks
  • Processing of Refunds

Disposal of Complaints

A customer complaint management process is implemented that involves tracking of complaints received and their prompt resolution.

The objectives for complaint management are to ensure the adequacy of complaint response, acceptable response times for addressing the complaint, closure of the complaint and analysis of complaint related trends or any recurring issues.

All customer communication that is received is analysed and in case of service led deficiency, it is classified as a complaint. A listing of the common queries and its resolution approach is presented in the table below:

Customer Queries Resolution
Enquiry about transaction status or payment. Transaction details and the status of the transaction or payment is provided to the customer.
Refund related. Information on the refund date and refund details are provided to the customer.
Refund not reflecting in customer's account. Refund status is verified with the concerned bank or payment provider and an update is shared with the customer.
Transaction successful but services not received. The status of the payment updation at the merchant is verified and the customer is informed to contact the merchant for the service.
Bill not received or bill amount mismatch. The biller is contacted for the bill details and an appropriate revert is provided to the customer.

The above complaints are monitored for resolution within a time bound manner with appropriate intimation to the customer.

The targeted Turn Around Times (TATs) to respond to the customer is managed within 2 working days and resolution within 5 to 7 working days from the date of receipt of the complaint.

Handling of Grievances

Customers can reach out to Technogent through the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) mechanism and record their query or complaint. Customers can also track the status of the complaint through the ODR mechanism.

A unique ticket number is assigned to each query or complaint and the customer receives an SMS and email communication with the details.

Register your query or complaint here or track the status here.

Alternatively, the customer can also contact Technogent through the tiered approach as described below:

Level I Service First – Executive Please write to us at the following email address

Grievances are resolved in a proper and time bound manner with detailed advice to the customer.

We normally take between 1 to 2 working days for a response to the grievance.

Resolution of the complaint may depend upon responses or clarifications from external stakeholders (viz. bank or merchant or biller) and could take approximately between 5 to 7 working days for resolution.

In respect of BBPS complaints received from NPCI on the CANVAS CMS (Complaint Management System) portal, Technogent will share the responses as per BBPS guidelines.

  • RBI Integrated Ombudsman scheme, 2021
    • Any aggrieved party may also make a complaint to the RBI Ombudsman under the RBI Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021 that includes the purpose of the Ombudsman scheme. For additional details, please click RBI Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021.

Management of Chargebacks

A chargeback is a reversal of a card or UPI transaction and usually occurs when a customer raises a dispute with their financial institution (also known as the issuer) in relation to a purchase made on their card or UPI account.

Chargeback types

Generally, chargebacks can be associated with unsatisfactory customer service/ product or poor service delivery experience from the merchant. Chargebacks can also be filed if the customer suspects any fraudulent activity on their card.

A list of the most common reasons of chargeback (as defined by the networks) and the general remedy is described in the table below.

Chargeback Reason Description Remedy
Merchandise not received. The customer claims that the services are not provided by the merchant or goods have not been received, which were delivered by the merchant by the expected date of delivery. For an E-commerce transaction, the merchant has to provide the invoice copy of goods or products which were delivered etc.
In case the merchant is unable to complete the delivery, the merchant to initiate a refund and such confirmation is provided to the customer.
Duplicate Processing/Paid through other means. The card issuer confirmed that the cardholder cancelled the transaction for which a refund or credit is due to cardholder. Details of two separate orders along with invoice copies must be provided at the representment stage itself.
If duplicate transaction is identified, merchant to process an immediate credit before chargeback is received.
The following documents are provided by the merchant to contest a duplicate billing dispute:
a) Payment updation log.
b) Invoice copy with the clarity on how the excess payment was adjusted at merchant end.
c) Terms & Conditions stating that the excess payment is non-refundable and will be adjusted in the subsequent billing cycle.
d) In case refund has been processed for one transaction, along with the refund details relevant documents for the second transaction are to be shared.
Credit not processed for cancelled transaction. The card issuer confirmed that the cardholder cancelled the transaction for which a refund or credit is due to cardholder. For ecommerce transactions, merchants have to ensure that the cancellation policy is displayed on the payment page itself.
The policy must be clearly visible on the screen and the customer must tick and accept the terms and conditions.
The screen shot of the cancellation policy which was disclosed to the cardholder must be provided to the Issuing bank at the representment stage.
The refund details are processed to the original card account. In case of a partial refund, a merchant rebuttal letter is issued with justification of a partial refund.
Account debited but confirmation not received at merchant location Card issuer disputes a settled transaction as failed. Documents to prove that the transaction was successful and service rendered is provided to resolve the dispute.
Goods not as described. The card issuer claims that the merchandise provided by the merchant were not as per the description mentioned on the website. For ecommerce transaction, merchant to ensure that the details of the merchandise match with the actual merchandise delivered to the cardholder.
Cardholder communication or acknowledgement wherein he has received the merchandise as per his expectations. Merchandise delivered in “as is” condition.
Merchant to provide a rebuttal letter to remedy the dispute and risk investigation report in case the cardholder seems to be a suspected fraudster.
Refund details are processed to the original card account. In case of a partial refund, the merchant to provide a rebuttal letter with justification of a partial refund.

Chargeback handling

The Technogent Chargeback Management System is the platform that manages various stages of the dispute and offers access to all the participants namely, the Acquirer, Technogent and merchants to view a dispute, upload documents (for evidence) and manage disputes through the entire lifecycle or journey of the dispute.

Appropriate roles and responsibilities for resolution of disputes are defined as per the network guidelines to ensure that the appropriate supporting documents are made available to the issuer.

Once a cardholder files a complaint with the issuer, the dispute is forwarded by the network to the acquirer who in turn raises the dispute to the merchant to initiate an investigation.

The merchant has to now provide documentary evidence to contest or defend the dispute. In this respect, the following processes are followed:

  • Obtaining supporting documents: The merchant is notified about the dispute through the Technogent CBMS mentioning the payment ID, reason for chargeback, TAT of representment, etc. The merchant may then respond with the relevant documentation and explanation in the CBMS.
  • Resolving the dispute: The dispute resolution team at Technogent will represent the dispute along with documents (if any) as received from the merchant, on the CBMS to the acquirer. The acquirer generally provides a representment window to represent the chargeback and a failure to do so within the specified window may lead to a chargeback debit to the merchant.
  • Final resolution of the chargeback - The issuer may continue to dispute the transaction (progressive dispute) in the event that the cardholder is not satisfied with the merchant response or representment. The network may also further pursue the dispute.
    • In case of an unsuccessful re-presentment by the merchant, as per the decision of the issuer and based on network guidelines, the disputed amount is debited to the merchant's account
    • Should the merchant accept the chargeback, the disputed amount is debited to the merchant's account
    • If the dispute was successfully represented by the merchant, the dispute is closed in favour of the merchant with no debit towards the disputed amount.

Given that most of the chargebacks result from miscommunication between the buyer and the seller, some of the recommended practices for merchants during payment processing/ settlement to avoid disputes or chargebacks are described below:

  1. Transparent Return Policy - merchants to make sure that the return policies are clearly mentioned on the website.
  2. Constant and Clear Communication – merchants to keep customers updated regarding the status of order/delivery.
  3. Proof of Delivery – merchants to share tracking numbers, invoices and other order related documents and references with customers to avoid ambiguity.

Dispute management timeframes

Dispute Resolution Network timelines are governed by respective networks, details available at the following links:

BBPS Dispute Management

  • Disputes for BBPS transactions (processed through credit/ debit cards) are responded as per the network guidelines.
  • For disputes received from NPCI, where Technogent is the Biller Operating Unit (BOU), the chargeback requests are responded to by either confirming the service delivery to the customer account or by providing a refund confirmation.
  • For disputes received from Agent Institutions where Technogent is not the Biller Operating Unit (BOU), the dispute is raised by the Technogent teams on the NPCI Canvas DMS (Dispute Management System) portal, and NPCI routes such disputes to the respective BOU's to facilitate the evidence or dispute response.

Processing of Refunds

Refunds are originated due to one of the following scenarios:

  • Merchant initiates the refund to the customer due to an inability to provide the service or the goods purchased, or owing to a customer complaint about the service
  • Customer bank initiates the refund to the customer due to a failed transaction. These pertain to cases where the customer account was debited online, but the status of the transaction was not sent to the merchant or biller
  • Refunds initiated by Technogent for billers where Technogent is the Biller Operating Unit
  • Refunds received from NPCI in respect of Technogent Customer Operating Unit transactions

Technogent service delivery processes are designed to handle both the above scenarios through a well-designed refund mechanism as described below:

  • Merchant or biller is provided with an API or batch mechanism to initiate complete or partial refunds for transactions
  • Daily Reconciliation is done with the banks on to identify failed transactions and are either reported to merchants or billers (for service delivery) or reported to banks (for initiating refunds to customer accounts)
  • Timely reporting of refund requests from billers into the NPCI Canvas portal, and timely processing of the refunds initiated by NPCI for the agents

Refunds received from the merchant/ biller/ NPCI or refunds that are identified through the reconciliation process are initiated within T+5 working days with the bank payment partner.

T – Date of receipt of the refund request from the merchant/ biller/ NPCI or date of identification of the failed transaction.