Refunds and cancellation

Refund policy

What can be refunded, what cannot, and the single fact that decides which: whether the money has already reached the organisation.

This document is a draft

It states the platform's intended position and has not yet been reviewed by a lawyer. Contact details and response commitments are not final. It is published now so the terms of the product are visible before it takes real money, not because it is settled.

The one thing that determines everything below

Donations are held for 7 days before an organisation can withdraw them. Inside that window a donation is still ours to reverse. Outside it, the money has been granted onward and may already have been spent.

That is why this policy is generous before payout and honest about its limits after it. We would rather tell you the boundary than promise past it.

Position by situation

Duplicate or accidental double payment

Refunded

On request within the hold window. Clearly unintended.

Charged, but the donation was not recorded

Refunded or corrected

Our error, and we initiate it. Reconciliation should normally catch this before you notice.

A campaign is found fraudulent before payout

Refunded

To every donor of that campaign. This is exactly what the hold period exists for.

An organisation fails verification after collecting funds

Refunded

The funds were never payout-eligible: no payout path exists without verification.

An unauthorised transaction on your card or account

Refunded

Subject to the payment gateway's dispute process.

A campaign is found fraudulent after payout

Best efforts, not guaranteed

Once money has left for the organisation, recovery depends on their cooperation. We will pursue it and tell you what happened, but we will not promise an outcome we cannot deliver.

You change your mind

Not refunded as a rule

A donation is not a purchase. We may use discretion inside the hold window; ask us and we will tell you honestly.

A campaign does not reach its goal

Not refunded

Organisations keep what they raise, and this is stated on every campaign page. Partial funding still pays for part of the work.

How a refund is made

It returns to the payment method you used. We cannot send it anywhere else.
Banks and payment instruments typically take 5–7 working days to show the credit after the gateway confirms it.
A refund is recorded as a reversing entry against the original donation, never as a deletion. Your donation stays visible in your account with the refund beside it.
If a receipt had already been issued for the donation, it is invalidated and the annual tax statement is adjusted. You will be told.
We tell you the reason and the expected timeline when we start it.

How to ask for one

Email ujalahopefoundation.in@gmail.com with the date, the amount and the campaign or organisation. If your concern is that something is wrong with a campaign rather than with your own payment, raise a grievance instead — that route can suspend payouts while we investigate, which an email cannot.

We acknowledge within 3 working days and aim to resolve within 30 days.

What Ujala Hope keeps

On a full refund made before payout, nothing. The platform fee is charged when funds are withdrawn, not when they are given, so a reversed donation carries no platform fee. The payment gateway's own charge on a refunded transaction is not always returned to us; we absorb that rather than deduct it from your refund.