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Legal

Cancellation & Refund Policy

Last updated: 20 July 2026

This policy explains how pickup request cancellations, failed payments, and refunds are handled on SmartCollect.

1. Cancelling a pickup request

A citizen may cancel a pending or assigned pickup request from the Public Portal at any time before a field agent has logged the collection. Once a collection has been recorded against a request, it can no longer be cancelled and the applicable tariff becomes payable.

2. Failed payments

If an online payment fails or is interrupted, the request remains active and unpaid — it is never silently dropped. You can retry the same payment from the Payments page at any time using card, UPI, or a fresh on-site QR scan.

3. Refund eligibility

  • Duplicate charge: if you were charged twice for the same collection, the duplicate amount is refunded in full.
  • Service not rendered: if a collection was billed but never actually carried out, the charge is reversed once verified against field records.
  • Incorrect tariff: if the wrong building type or collection type resulted in an overcharge, the difference is refunded after correction.

Refunds are not provided simply because a citizen changes their mind after a collection has been genuinely completed and logged.

4. How refunds are issued

Approved refunds are returned to the original payment method (card, UPI, or wallet) used for the transaction. On-site QR payments collected by a field agent are refunded via the agency's settlement process with the ULB.

5. Refund timelines

Refunds are typically initiated within 3–5 business days of approval and may take a further 5–7 business days to reflect in your account, depending on your bank or payment provider.

6. Agency remittance & reconciliation

Collection agencies remit funds collected on behalf of a ULB through the Agency Portal's payment ledger. Refunds affecting an already-remitted transaction are reconciled between the agency and ULB during the next settlement cycle.

7. Raising a dispute

To dispute a charge or request a refund, use the Report an issue option in the Public Portal, or reach us via our Contact page with your request reference number.