ECS Debit Mandate and its cancellation

ECS Debit cancellation

Can an ECS debit mandate be cancelled or withdrawn prematurely?

Yes. Electronic Clearing System Debit mandate or the Auto Debit Clearing mandate given to an institution by giving consent to deduct particular amount periodically can be cancelled by the bank account holder at any time as per his/her wishes. Nobody can compel the account holder to not to stop or withdraw the ECS/Auto Debit mandate which was given for paying insurance premiums, mutual funds, loan EMIs, for paying subscription amount to service providers like Just Dial, which provides various services like providing leads for various businesses.

However, prior to placing cancellation request with the banker (account holding bank), it is advisable to make a formal/written request with the service provider/user institution to which you have given ECS debit mandate. However, the account holder is entitled to withdraw the mandate /ECS debit instructions from his/her banker even without involvement of the user institution. The withdrawal request of the customer would be deemed as stop payment instruction in cheque clearing system.

It is advisable to withdraw the ECS debit prior to a month of the next due date so that the bank or institution gets enough time to process the said request.

Auto Debit cancellation request of the bank account holder has to be accepted

Your banker can not reject your request for cancellation of auto debit mandate since the relationship between the customer and Bank is of a creditor and a debtor and not of a Trustee. Therefore, the bank has no option to compel you to continue the auto-debit mandate against your will.

What if bank refuses to cancel your auto-debit mandate?

If a bank refuses to cancel your request for auto-debit mandate on the ground that the account holder has to get NOC from the service provider, then such conduct of the bank would be considered as unfair trade practice and would also amount to deficiency in services of the said bank. The loss arises to the account holder due to such refusal of the bank to cancel auto debit mandate would have to be compensated by the concerned bank.

Similarly, the service provider/user institution cannot compel you to pay only through ECS or Auto Debit mandate. At any point of time, after giving a month notice period, you can withdraw the ECS mandate and take steps to change the mode of payment as per your convenience. The user institution cannot force you to continue the ECS mandate against your will.

If you find your services provider’s service quality is not up to the mark and you want to cancel such subscription or you want to make some other mode of payment for paying your utility bills, EMIs etc, then you can straightaway withdraw the ECS debit mandate by making formal/written request to your banker.

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