The Hidden Costs of Convenience
Mobile payment apps have made our lives incredibly convenient. With just a few taps, you can pay for almost anything. A key feature driving this convenience is UPI AutoPay, which allows merchants to automatically debit your account for recurring payments.
While perfect for bills and EMIs, it's also the reason you might be paying for services you no longer use. A free trial for a streaming service that you forgot to cancel, a premium app subscription that auto-renewed, or a gym membership from months ago can all continue to charge you. The average person often has several forgotten subscriptions, potentially leaking hundreds or even thousands of rupees from their account each month. A regular audit is not just good financial hygiene; it's a necessary step to stop these leaks.
How to Find Your Subscriptions on PhonePe
PhonePe provides a straightforward way to track your automatic payments. The section is typically called 'AutoPay'. To find it, open the app and tap on your profile picture in the top-left corner. From there, look for 'AutoPay' or 'AutoPay Settings'. Some versions of the app may place it under a 'Payment Management' section. Once you tap into AutoPay, you will see a list of all your active, or 'live', mandates. This screen shows you which merchants are authorised to pull money from your account, giving you a clear starting point for your audit.
Locating Mandates on Google Pay
Google Pay also centralises its recurring payments under a section named 'Autopay'. To access it, launch the app and tap on your profile picture, which is usually in the top right corner. In the menu that appears, select 'Autopay'. This will take you to a screen with different tabs, typically including 'Pending', 'Live', and 'Completed'. Your focus should be on the 'Live' tab, as this lists all the active mandates that are currently authorised to debit your account. Each entry will show details like the merchant name and payment frequency.
Reviewing Auto-Debits on Paytm
For Paytm users, the path to finding subscriptions can have a few different names. The most common location is under 'UPI Automatic Payments' or a similarly named setting. To find this, open the app, tap your profile icon (often in the top-left), and navigate to 'UPI & Payment Settings' or a general 'Settings' menu. Within this area, you should find an option for 'UPI Automatic Payments' or 'Automatic Payments & Subscriptions'. Clicking this will reveal a list of all merchants you've authorised for recurring debits, allowing you to see exactly where your money is scheduled to go.
The Cancellation Process: A Two-Step Approach
Once you've identified an unwanted subscription in your payment app, you can proceed to cancel the payment mandate. In most apps like PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm, you can tap on the specific mandate and you will see an option to 'Cancel', 'Revoke', or 'Delete' the AutoPay instruction. You will likely need to enter your UPI PIN to confirm the cancellation. However, this is only the first step. Cancelling the mandate in the UPI app only stops the payment instruction; it does not cancel your actual subscription with the merchant. To fully sever ties and prevent any future billing issues, you must also visit the merchant's website or app and formally cancel your service with them. This ensures you won't be considered a customer who simply failed to pay.
Beyond UPI: Other Places to Check
While UPI AutoPay is a major source of recurring debits, it's not the only one. Your financial audit should also include a review of your credit card statements. Scour them for recurring charges you don't recognise. Additionally, check the subscription management sections of the Google Play Store (for Android users) and the Apple App Store (for iPhone users). Subscriptions made directly through these app stores are billed to your linked payment method and won't always appear in your UPI app's mandate list. Being thorough ensures you catch every single unwanted debit, regardless of its origin.
