How to cancel any subscription in India, from UPI AutoPay to app stores

Open the last debit SMS or bank statement entry. The merchant name tells you where to cancel: "Google" or "Google Play" means Play, "Apple" means the App Store, a telecom name means a bundle, and the service's own name means you pay it directly. Cancel the plan there first, so it ends cleanly at the period end, then stop the payment.

NPCI built UPI AutoPay so that every UPI app has a mandate section where you can view, modify, pause and revoke recurring payments. Menu names differ between apps, but the flow is the same.

Card subscriptions in India run on e-mandates. RBI's Digital Payments – E-mandate Framework, 2026 (21 April 2026) sets the rules your bank must follow. Recurring charges up to ₹15,000 per transaction can go through without an OTP; insurance premiums, mutual fund SIPs and credit card bills get a ₹1,00,000 limit. Your bank must send a pre-debit notification at least 24 hours before each charge, and must give you a way to opt out of that transaction or the whole mandate. It must also let you withdraw any e-mandate at any time, confirmed with an extra authentication step such as an OTP.

In practice: look in your card's app or net banking for "e-mandates", "standing instructions" or "recurring payments", or use the opt-out link in the pre-debit SMS or email.

If an app store bills you, the app itself usually can't cancel the plan. iPhone: Settings > your name > Subscriptions > Cancel Subscription. No Cancel button, or a red expiry message, means it's already cancelled. Android: Play Store > profile > Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions > Cancel subscription. Uninstalling an app never cancels its subscription. Full walkthroughs: Apple subscriptions and Google Play subscriptions.

This message, or something close to it, appears when an app or store finds a live subscription on the account you're signed in with, typically when you try to buy the plan again, remove a payment method or close an account. Work through three checks:

• Is it cancelled but not expired? A cancelled plan stays active until the end of the paid period. On Google Play, subscriptions paid by UPI AutoPay can show as active until the cycle ends, and you can't remove that UPI method until then.
• Is it on another account? Search your email for the store receipt and check which Google or Apple account it names.
• Is someone else paying? A family organiser's plan or a telecom bundle shows as active but can only be cancelled by them.

To renew a plan you cancelled, Google Play shows a Resubscribe button in Subscriptions; if it doesn't, set the subscription up again in the app. Watch for price changes before you rejoin: JioHotstar, for example, lets existing subscribers keep older prices only while auto-renew stays on, so rejoining means paying today's rate. For plans you only use now and then, a shared group on Subspace shows every renewal date and splits the cost, which beats paying for several solo plans you rarely open.