What happens to a double payment on a UPI transaction? Well, it’s a Conspiracy of Silence.

26^th March 2023 on a visit to Chennai we stopped at a lunch at Amma Chettinadu Restaurant at T Nagar. The bill was INR 1,002. I paid using Paytm, and it showed deducted but the merchant did not get an alert. I paid again.

The restaurant said it would be refunded, and we moved on. But it never happened.

Many would have moved on, but I usually one to give in to giving free money. I tried getting it back. And believe it, recently I got a refund, after 24 months.

This is Digital India. All is hunky dory when going is good. But if something falls through the cracks, the relief is hard to come by.

I just wonder, if it takes me all the resources and time to get a refund, what happens to the ordinary person? Where do they go, and how do they get a closure?

Unfortunately, the options are very less, and awareness about them is even lower. And there is a conspiracy of silence so that the issue is never resolved and dies on its own.

It's important we know this, and make efforts to push back. The nation will not progress discussing what happens in Delhi, who should lead the country, or whether Mandir Masjid is what we should be busy with. It will do better when citizens like us take everyday actions to push the system and make it change, incrementally. And ensure that there is no backsliding when no one is looking.

These are the steps over 24 months, often with multiple back and forth:

1. Promise by Amma Chettinadu Restaurant that it will be reversed, but nothing happened. I called them, they asked me to call back to speak to an “important” person. I called again, but the person was missing, I got a mobile number, called that, and sent all the details, with the promise of action.

2. I wait, no acknowledgment, no response. I called the mobile, but the call was ignored. I called the restaurant, they said they would not refund me.

3. I raise the issue with Paytm. It is extremely difficult to get through the IVR and speak to a real person. After a lot of back and forth, they say they can’t help.

4. I write a letter to the restaurant, stating I will escalate the case and mark a copy to the Office of the Police Commissioner, Chennai. No response from anyone, no refund.

5. As advised by Paytm, I raised this with NPCI (National Payments Commission of India). I also write to the “Centralized Public Grievances Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) - https //pgportal.gov.in login. Both said I needed to get in touch with the bank.

6. I write to ICICI, and they respond by just confirming that two payments have been made to the same merchant, back to back. No action from them. This was a year back.

7. I write to the Reserve Bank of India under the Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/Complaints.aspx). They asked me to go back to the bank.

8. I go back to ICICI Bank with the RBI letter, and then they refund – both the payment, as a “customer relationship”. This is exactly 24 months from the original transaction.