Refund & Cancellation
Policy

Akshaya Centre is committed to providing a transparent, fair, and accountable digital governance experience for all citizens across the state of Kerala. This policy outlines the conditions under which service requests may be cancelled and how financial refunds are processed.

1. Understanding Service Fee Components

Payments processed on the Akshaya Centre platform generally comprise two distinct components:

• Statutory Government Fees: Mandatory fees prescribed by the Government of Kerala or respective departments (e.g., e-District application fee, stamp duties, land registry charges, traffic challan penalties).
• Platform & Kendra Facilitation Charges: Charges covering online application digitization, document scanning, operator verification, biometric authentication, digital signature stamping, and status alert services provided by verified Akshaya Kendras.

2. Cancellation Policy

Citizens may request cancellation under the following conditions:

• Pre-Submission Cancellation (Full Eligibility): If you submit a cancellation request while your application is in PENDING_REVIEW or ASSIGNED status (before the Akshaya Kendra operator has verified documents or transmitted the application to the official government departmental portal), your request will be approved and a 100% refund of all fees paid will be issued.
• Post-Submission Policy (Ineligible for Cancellation): Once your application documents have been verified, digitally signed, and officially submitted to the government department portal (e.g., Revenue e-District, Motor Vehicles Department, Civil Supplies), the statutory process has been irrevocably initiated. At this stage, neither the application nor the statutory fees can be cancelled or recalled.
• E-Challan Settle Payments: Traffic fine settlements and penalty dues transmitted to the Kerala Police or Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (Parivahan) treasury servers cannot be cancelled or reversed once the official transaction reference number has been generated.

3. Refund Eligibility & Exceptions

Refunds are evaluated and granted according to the following criteria:

A. Scenarios Eligible for 100% Refund

• Payment Deducted but Transaction Failed: If your bank account, card, or UPI wallet is debited but the platform fails to generate an Application Reference Number due to gateway timeout or connectivity disruption.
• Duplicate Transaction Charges: In the event that a citizen inadvertently pays multiple times for the identical service request number.
• Technical or System Rejection: If Akshaya Centre is unable to fulfill or route your application due to technical infrastructure failures, permanent service retirement, or Kendra assignment unavailability within our SLA commitment.
• Cancellation Approved Before Processing: When a cancellation request is logged prior to operator verification and department transmission.

B. Non-Refundable Scenarios

• Rejection by Government Authorities: If an application is rejected by the Village Officer, Tahsildar, or reviewing departmental officer due to inaccurate citizen declarations, fraudulent supporting documents, ineligible caste/income claims, or failure to produce originals during physical field inspection.
• Completed and Issued Certificates: Once an authorized certificate or service output is delivered and accessible on the citizen dashboard or DigiLocker.
• User Inactivity / Failure to Provide Required Proofs: If an application lapses because the citizen failed to provide requested clarification or supplementary documents within the statutory 30-day window after repeated notifications.

4. Refund Processing Timelines & Mode of Payment

Akshaya Centre adheres strictly to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) payment aggregator regulations:

• Approval & Initiation: Eligible refund requests are verified by our audit desk within 24 to 48 business hours of receipt.
• Credit Reversal to Source: Refunds are remitted exclusively back to the original payment source (same Bank Account, Debit/Credit Card, or UPI ID used during checkout). Under standard banking processing cycles, funds reflect in your account within 5 to 7 business days.
• Notification: Upon refund initiation, an automated confirmation containing the Bank Reference / ARN number is dispatched to your registered mobile number via SMS and WhatsApp.

5. How to Submit a Refund or Cancellation Request

Citizens can initiate a claim through any of the following channels:

1. Citizen App / Web Portal: Log in to your tracking dashboard at Application Tracker, select your Application Reference Number, and click Request Cancellation / Dispute.
2. Toll-Free Citizen Helpline: Call our dedicated citizen support desk at 1800-425-6569 (Monday through Saturday, 08:30 AM to 07:00 PM).
3. Email Support: Send your Application Number, payment transaction ID, bank debit screenshot, and reason for dispute to support@akshayacentre.org or refunds@akshayacentre.org.

6. Grievance Redressal & Nodal Officer

If your refund is not credited within the stipulated timeframe or you are dissatisfied with a dispute decision, you may escalate the matter to our designated Nodal Grievance Officer: