Sent Money To Wrong UPI ID? Here's How You Can Recover It

A ransomware attack on C-Edge Technologies, a key tech service provider for small banks in India, has brought attention to the importance of double-checking UPI IDs before making transactions. The attack which occurred a week ago, temporarily halted payment systems across nearly 300 local banks.

Many may find themselves in a situation where they have accidentally sent money to a wrong unified payment interface (UPI) ID. This can occur when a phone number linked to a UPI ID is reassigned to a new individual, causing unintended recipients to receive funds. 

How to recover money sent to wrong UPI ID:

1. Reach out to the payment system used (Google Pay, PhonePe or Paytm) and lodge a complaint.
2. Visit the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) website and fill out the online form under the ‘Dispute Redressal Mechanism' section. Provide required details, including transaction ID, virtual payment address, amount transferred, date of transaction, email ID and mobile number. Upload your bank statement showing the deduction.
3. Choose ‘Incorrectly transferred to another account' as the reason for your complaint.
4. If the complaint remains unresolved, escalate the issue in the following order – first, to the TPAP (Third-Party Application Provider); then, to the PSP Bank (Payment Service Provider Bank); followed by the bank where the end-user customer maintains their account; and finally, to the NPCI.
5. If the issue remains unresolved after one month or you're dissatisfied with the response, approach the RBI independent official (Ombudsman) for Digital Transactions.
6. File complaints in the jurisdiction where the system participant's branch or office is located, or where the customer's address is registered for centralised operations. 

To retrieve money transferred to an unintended individual, you must prove that the funds were sent unintentionally. Once proven, the bank is responsible for reversing the transaction.

According to Abhay Chattopadhyay, Partner at Economic Laws Practice, “In the event transfer of funds being made to a wrong recipient, sufficient proof is required to be furnished by the affected user before the bank that a transaction was done incorrectly / inadvertently.”

Mr Chattopadhyay also stated that if the bank fails to ensure the reversal of the transaction, you can file a complaint with the Ombudsman under Regulation 8 of the RBI's Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions, 2019, as per Economics Times.