Free trial or robbery? How money is being silently deducted from your account through UPI AutoPay

Today, digital payment and UPI have made our everyday life very easy. Be it paying for tea at the shop, paying the electricity bill at home or sending money to a friend instantly – everything is done with just a tap of the smartphone. This is the reason why everyone, from small children to the elderly, has now started making online payments without any hesitation.

But as digital facilities have increased, new complexities and unknown dangers related to them have also started emerging. Many times, while using an app, people ‘Allow’ or ‘Agree’ on every permission without thinking and without reading the terms. This small haste later becomes the reason for emptying your pocket every month.

Mumbai’s Lokesh’s experience: Free trial of ₹0 and money deducted every month

Recently, Lokesh, a resident of Mumbai, shared a very practical experience related to his mother on the social media platform LinkedIn. His post forced thousands of people to think that the real meaning of digital literacy is not just running apps.

Lokesh told that his mother had started using ‘free trial’ of some mobile apps. While activating the trial the app showed a payment of ₹0 and also AutoPay That is, asked for permission for automatic payment. The trial period ended in a few days, but after that, money started getting deducted from his bank account every month without any prior warning. The most surprising thing was that he was not aware of this for months.

Small shock of Rs 79 and 99, which is not even visible

After all, why does no one notice even if money is being deducted for months? According to Lokesh, Rs 79 or Rs 99 Small amounts like this often get hidden among our dozens and hundreds of UPI transactions.

When we make small payments several times a day, the message of deducting Rs 79 in the passbook or bank statement seems like a normal purchase. For this reason, without knowing, people keep paying the subscription for that app for months, which they probably don’t even use anymore.

‘The actual product is not a free trial, but your AutoPay mandate’

In his post, Lokesh revealed a very sad but bitter truth. He wrote that today the real objective of many tech companies is not to provide you free services, but to somehow AutoPay Mandate Approval has to be obtained.

Once the customer allows automatic deduction of money every month from his UPI or card, the company has a guaranteed source of income every month without any hassle.

Changing scope of digital literacy: Just running UPI is not enough

In earlier times, while making online payments, people were afraid that the money might go to the wrong place or they might get some fake goods. But now the threat has changed. Now the biggest risk is that you are giving your consent to the terms and conditions without reading and understanding them.

Allowing AutoPay, giving an app location access, or turning on a recurring subscription—these decisions take seconds, but have an impact on your bank balance for months.

People also admitted on social media: ‘One-Time Payment option is not available’

Hundreds of users shared their experiences on this post of Lokesh. Many people complained that today it is very difficult to find the one-time payment option on the payment page of most apps and by default only ‘AutoPay’ is selected.

Some people also admitted that when the message for deducting the next installment comes, they come to know that the subscription is active. Then the person thinks, ‘Let’s use the money already deducted for this month, we will cancel it next month’ – and then forgets to cancel it till the next month.

How to avoid these mistakes? (4 important rules of safety)

1. Keep a close eye on the ₹0 mandate: Whenever any app asks you to set up AutoPay by deducting ₹0 or ₹1 in the name of free trial, be alert.

2. Cancel subscription immediately: Even if you have taken a free trial, immediately cancel its auto-pay mandate from the app or UPI as soon as the trial starts. With this, your trial period will complete and no money will be deducted in the next month.

3. Check AutoPay list in UPI app: Go to the settings of your Google Pay, PhonePe or Paytm app and keep checking the ‘Autopay’ or ‘Mandates’ section from time to time. Immediately delete any unnecessary active auto-pay visible there.

4. Do not give permission without reading: Before starting any service, read its terms and conditions carefully to see whether you are knowingly or unknowingly giving permission for money to be deducted every month.