Refund Speed: UPI vs Credit Card for Flight Refunds in India 2026
By Aarav Sharma (Aarav Sharma covers Indian airline operations, airport infrastructure and route economics. He writes about Tier-1 and Tier-2 airport developments, IndiGo and Air India fleet strategy, and the unsung Indian aviation hubs travellers should know about.) · Published · 9 min read
A UPI refund for a cancelled IndiGo or Air India ticket typically hits your bank in 3–5 working days. A credit card refund can take 7–12 days or bleed into the next billing cycle. Here's the full breakdown of why the payment method at booking shapes how fast money comes back.
TL;DR — UPI Wins on Speed, Credit Card Wins on Dispute Power
In 2026, UPI refunds on cancelled Indian airline tickets typically clear in 3–5 working days from the moment the airline initiates the refund. Credit card refunds take 7–12 working days, and can stretch into the next billing cycle depending on your card issuer. Net banking refunds sit somewhere in between — usually 5–7 days. Debit card refunds are generally 3–7 days, similar to UPI.
The flip side: credit cards give you chargeback rights — a powerful enforcement lever if a refund is unreasonably delayed or denied. UPI has no equivalent dispute mechanism beyond going through the airline and DGCA. So the tradeoff is speed (UPI) vs. protection layer (credit card). For most standard cancellations, UPI is the faster choice. For high-value international tickets where you're worried about refund disputes, a credit card's chargeback muscle is worth the slightly longer refund wait.
Why Do Credit Card Refunds Take Longer?
There are actually three separate steps before a credit card refund reaches you, and each adds time:
- Airline initiates the refund to its payment gateway (Razorpay, CCAvenue, PayU, etc.). This can take 1–5 working days after you cancel, depending on the airline's internal processing.
- The payment gateway processes it back through the card network (Visa, Mastercard, RuPay). This adds 2–5 days.
- Your bank posts it to your account. Banks have different credit timelines. Some post it immediately on receipt; others post it only on the next billing cycle close.
Total end-to-end: in normal conditions, 7–12 working days. In busy periods (post-holiday cancellations, during airline operational disruptions), it stretches further. And if you've already paid the card bill including the charge you're getting refunded, you might see it as an opening credit on the next statement — not cash back, but a reduction of your next bill, which is functionally the same but feels different.
Why UPI Refunds Are Faster
UPI's architecture is fundamentally different. When an airline's payment gateway issues a UPI refund, it goes through NPCI's UPI rails directly to your linked bank account. There's no card network intermediary, no billing-cycle dependency. Once the gateway posts the refund, NPCI's real-time settlement means the credit typically appears in your account within minutes to a few hours in the best case — though 1–3 working days is more realistic for batch-processed airline refunds, with the full window being 3–5 working days in most cases.
One caveat: UPI refunds go to the UPI VPA (Virtual Payment Address) or bank account that was linked at the time of the original payment. If you've since changed your UPI app, linked bank, or closed the account, this can complicate the refund. Always keep the source account active until you see the refund land.
OTA-Booked Tickets: Add Another 5–10 Days
Here's what a lot of people miss: when you book through MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, EaseMyTrip, or another OTA, the money flow on a refund goes — airline → OTA → you. That middle step adds 5–10 working days to whatever the airline's internal processing takes. So a UPI refund that would take 3–5 days on a direct booking might take 8–15 days via an OTA. A credit card refund might stretch to 20+ days.
OTAs have their own refund SLA in their terms — typically 7–15 working days from when they receive the funds from the airline. If the OTA is slow, check their in-app refund status tracker first. If it's past their stated SLA, raise a complaint within the OTA and — if unresolved — via AirSewa, citing both the airline and the OTA in the complaint.
What to Do If Your Refund Is Late
Here's a working framework by payment method:
UPI / net banking: If more than 7 working days have passed since cancellation confirmation, contact the airline customer care with your PNR and cancellation reference. Ask for the 'refund transaction reference number' — if the airline has one, the money left their system and the delay is at the bank or gateway. If they don't have a transaction reference, the refund hasn't been initiated yet.
Credit card: After 15 working days, call your card issuer's customer care and ask for the 'pending credit' status on the card. Give them the refund reference from the airline if you have one. After 30 days with no resolution, you can raise a chargeback with your card issuer — 'service not rendered' or 'credit not received'. This is your most powerful lever and most airlines respond promptly once a chargeback is filed.
OTA booking: Check the OTA's refund tracker in the app first. If it shows 'processed' but you haven't received it, the issue is between OTA and your bank/UPI — contact your bank with the transaction UTR from the OTA. If it shows 'pending' past the SLA, escalate within the OTA app.
Does the Booking Channel (Direct vs OTA) Affect Refund Speed More Than Payment Method?
Honestly, yes — for most day-to-day cancellations. The booking channel introduces more variability than the payment method. A direct IndiGo booking via the app with UPI payment is typically the fastest path — you're one hop from airline to your account, and IndiGo's refund processing is reasonably consistent for direct bookings.
An OTA booking, regardless of payment method, adds that intermediary delay. For large bookings (international, group travel), the OTA convenience at booking is worth it, but factor in the slower refund timeline when you're making the decision.
If you want to stay in control of refund timelines, booking direct via the airline's app or website is the cleaner path. FlightGPT's AI search shows fares across carriers and sources so you can compare and then decide where to actually book — whether direct or via OTA — based on the fare difference and the refund conditions.
Quick Reference: Refund Timeline by Payment Method
| Payment Method | Direct Booking | OTA Booking |
|---|---|---|
| UPI | 3–5 working days | 8–15 working days |
| Net Banking | 5–7 working days | 10–18 working days |
| Debit Card | 3–7 working days | 10–18 working days |
| Credit Card | 7–12 working days | 15–25 working days |
Ranges are typical — not guaranteed. Direct airline complaint or AirSewa escalation is the remedy if actual timelines exceed these. Source: observed patterns across IndiGo, Air India, MakeMyTrip, Goibibo as of 2026.
Bottom Line
UPI is faster for refunds; credit card is stronger for disputes. Book direct for the shortest refund path. If you're past the expected timeline, don't just wait — call the airline, get a refund reference number, and escalate if needed. The full escalation guide is at AirSewa and DGCA complaint process. And if you're comparing which fare type and airline makes sense for your next trip, see credit shell vs cash refund for the bigger picture on what you're entitled to when plans change.
Frequently asked questions
How many days does IndiGo take to refund via UPI?
For a direct IndiGo booking paid by UPI, the typical refund timeline is 3–5 working days from when IndiGo initiates the refund. For OTA-booked tickets, add 5–10 more working days as the OTA is the intermediary. If you haven't seen the refund after 7 working days on a direct booking, contact IndiGo with your PNR and ask for the refund transaction reference.
Why is my credit card refund for a flight taking so long?
Credit card refunds pass through three steps: airline → payment gateway → card network → your bank. Each step adds time. In total, 7–12 working days is normal for direct bookings; OTA bookings can take 15–25 working days. If you're past 15 days on a direct booking or 25 days on an OTA booking, call your card issuer and ask about the pending credit or raise a chargeback.
Can I use a UPI refund to get my money faster even if I paid by credit card?
No — refunds always go back to the original payment method. If you paid by credit card, the refund will go to that card, not UPI. Airlines and payment gateways do not have a mechanism to redirect a refund to a different payment instrument than what was used at booking.
What happens to my UPI refund if I've changed my UPI-linked bank account?
If the bank account linked to the UPI VPA used at booking is still active, the refund should land there. If you've closed that account, the refund may bounce back to the airline's payment gateway, which then triggers a failed-refund process — you'll need to contact the airline with your new account details to reprocess. Keep source accounts active until refunds land.
Does paying via credit card give me any extra protection on flight refunds?
Yes — chargeback rights. If an airline delays a refund unreasonably (typically 60+ days post-cancellation), you can file a chargeback with your card issuer under 'service not rendered' or 'credit not received'. Card issuers investigate and can reverse the charge if the airline doesn't respond. UPI has no equivalent formal dispute mechanism — your recourse is the airline's GRO and then AirSewa.
Air India cancelled my flight — how long should the refund take?
Air India's stated refund SLA for airline-initiated cancellations is typically 7–10 working days to the original payment method. In practice, direct bookings via Air India's app or site with UPI or net banking often clear in 5–8 days; credit card refunds take 10–15 days. If you're past these windows, email Air India's GRO (contact on airindia.com) citing DGCA CAR Section 3 Series M, then escalate to AirSewa if unresolved.