Refund & Cancellation Policy

Effective from 1 September 2026

Donations to Akshara Spoorthi Foundation are voluntary gifts and are generally not refundable: the money is usually committed to a school within days. But we would far rather return a donation made by mistake than keep it. This policy explains exactly when we refund, how, and what happens to your tax receipt.

1. Donations we refundLink to the section 1. Donations we refund

We refund the following in full when you tell us within 30 days of the transaction date:

1. Duplicate transactions — the same donation charged more than once, for example after a timeout or a repeated click.
2. Erroneous transactions — an amount different from the one you intended (such as ₹50,000 instead of ₹5,000), or a payment debited from your account but never recorded as a donation. If you gave to the wrong campaign, we will first offer to move the gift.
3. Unauthorised transactions — a donation made with your card, account or UPI ID without your permission, once the payment gateway or your bank confirms it.

If you tell us after 30 days, we will still look into it, but a refund may no longer be possible once the funds have been spent or reported to the Income Tax Department.

2. Donations we cannot refundLink to the section 2. Donations we cannot refund

• A donation made intentionally, including when you later change your mind.
• A donation for which you have already claimed a tax deduction using our receipt.
• A donation disputed because you disagree with a programme decision, a campaign outcome or something we have published.
• In-kind donations once they have been accepted into our store and distributed.

3. What happens to your 80G receiptLink to the section 3. What happens to your 80G receipt

For tax purposes, a refunded donation is treated as if it had never been made:

• It is excluded from our Form 10BD statement. If we have already filed the statement for that financial year, we file a correction statement that removes it.
• Any 80G receipt issued for it becomes void from the date of the refund, and no Form 10BE certificate is issued for it; a certificate already issued is withdrawn through the correction statement.
• You must not use a void receipt to claim a deduction. When only part of a donation is refunded, we issue a fresh receipt for the amount we keep.

4. Recurring donationsLink to the section 4. Recurring donations

You can cancel a monthly or annual recurring donation at any time, with no notice period and no fee, from your donor portal or by writing to donate@aksharaspoorthi.org. Cancellation stops all future instalments. Instalments already collected are handled under sections 1 to 3, and any instalment taken after you asked us to cancel is refunded in full.

5. Foreign contributionsLink to the section 5. Foreign contributions

A foreign contribution is refunded only from our designated FCRA account, back to the account it came from, and the refund is recorded in our FCRA returns. We cannot refund a foreign contribution to an Indian bank account or to a different person.

6. Event registration feesLink to the section 6. Event registration fees

Where an event carries a fee, it is refunded in full if you cancel at least 72 hours before the event starts, and in full at any time if we cancel or postpone the event.

7. How to request a refundLink to the section 7. How to request a refund

Write to donate@aksharaspoorthi.org with:

• your name, and the email address or phone number used for the donation;
• the receipt or transaction number, the bank reference (UTR) if you have it, the date and the amount;
• a short description of what went wrong.

We acknowledge your request within 2 working days and give you our decision within 7 working days. We may ask for evidence, such as a bank statement, before we refund.

8. How refunds are paidLink to the section 8. How refunds are paid

Approved refunds go back to the original payment method only — the same card, bank account or UPI ID. We never refund in cash or to a different account. The payment gateway usually processes a refund within 5 working days of our approval, and your bank may take a further 5 to 10 working days to show it. Any gateway charges on a refunded donation are borne by the Foundation.

9. Failed paymentsLink to the section 9. Failed payments

If money was debited but the payment failed, the gateway normally reverses it automatically within 5 to 7 working days. If it has not reached you by then, write to us with the details and we will follow it up with the gateway.

10. ChargebacksLink to the section 10. Chargebacks

If you dispute a donation with your bank, please write to us as well: most problems are resolved faster directly. We will share the donation record with the gateway and your bank to settle the dispute.

11. EscalationLink to the section 11. Escalation

If you are not satisfied with how your request was handled, write to our Grievance Officer at grievance@aksharaspoorthi.org. A trustee reviews every escalated refund request.