To find unused subscriptions, list all recurring payments from the three main places autopay mandates are registered: UPI AutoPay mandates in your UPI app, bank e-mandates (NACH) in net banking, and standing instructions on your credit and debit cards. To cancel one, revoke the mandate where it lives, not only inside the service. Rajesh's audit below found 14 subscriptions costing ₹78,000 a year and cut ₹24,300 of it.
Where do autopay mandates hide?
Statements show a yearly renewal only once a year, and a small monthly charge is easy to miss. The mandates are the better list, since each is a standing permission to debit you.
UPI AutoPay mandates are listed in the autopay or mandates section of the UPI app you approved them in. Since September 2026, NPCI's own help service also shows all of them across banks and UPI apps.
Bank e-mandates run on NACH, the system that collects SIPs, loan EMIs and insurance premiums, and are set up through net banking, a debit card or Aadhaar. Many banks list them in net banking, each with a reference number, the UMRN.
Card standing instructions, or card e-mandates, are listed in each card issuer's app or net banking. App-store subscriptions are billed in the store's name; list and cancel each on the store's subscriptions page. A prepaid wallet with autopay is a fourth list to check.
What did Rajesh's subscriptions audit find?
Rajesh is on a ₹22 lakh CTC and takes home about ₹1,41,000 a month under the new regime for FY 2026-27, with PF on full wages and no variable pay. He pulled up all three lists and noted each yearly cost.
| Where | What | Yearly cost | Last used |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPI AutoPay | Video streaming, ₹650 a month | ₹7,800 | This week |
| UPI AutoPay | Second video streaming, ₹300 a month | ₹3,600 | Four months ago |
| UPI AutoPay | Music streaming, ₹120 a month | ₹1,440 | Daily |
| UPI AutoPay | Food-delivery membership, ₹150 a month | ₹1,800 | Weekly |
| UPI AutoPay | Grocery-delivery membership, ₹100 a month | ₹1,200 | Two months ago |
| UPI AutoPay | Sports streaming, yearly | ₹1,500 | Season over |
| Card | Cloud storage, ₹130 a month | ₹1,560 | Daily |
| Card | Office software, yearly | ₹7,000 | March |
| Card | Online course platform, yearly | ₹8,000 | Ten months ago |
| Card | Fitness app, yearly | ₹3,000 | Before he joined a gym |
| Card | Digital newspaper, yearly | ₹2,600 | Daily |
| NACH | Gym, ₹2,500 a month | ₹30,000 | Twice a week |
| NACH | Doorstep car cleaning, ₹500 a month | ₹6,000 | Weekly |
| NACH | Water-purifier service plan, yearly | ₹2,500 | Serviced in June |
The UPI mandates come to ₹17,340 a year, the card ones ₹22,160 and the NACH ones ₹38,500: ₹78,000 in all, ₹6,500 a month, about 4.6% of his take-home pay.
His test for each line was one question: would he sign up again today at this price? Six failed: the second streaming service, the sports pass, the grocery membership, the office software, the course platform and the fitness app, all wants by the test in the 50/30/20 guide. Together they cost ₹24,300 a year, ₹2,025 a month, which he added to his SIPs. Net banking also showed a mandate for a car loan closed last year, which he cancelled.
How do you cancel each kind of mandate?
| Where | Where to cancel | What to keep |
|---|---|---|
| UPI AutoPay | Revoke or pause it in the UPI app with your UPI PIN; a loan-repayment mandate goes through the lender | The revocation message |
| Card | The card issuer's app or net banking, under e-mandates; it asks for an OTP or similar check | The confirmation, and the next statement |
| NACH | Ask your bank to cancel it using the UMRN; the company's consent is not needed, but tell it | The bank's acknowledgement |
Cancel the subscription in the service's own app too, so it does not bill you through a new mandate. Revoking a mandate does not end a contract with a minimum term, such as a gym membership, so check the notice period first.
Why do renewals go through without an OTP?
Under RBI's E-mandate Framework of 21 April 2026, which covers mandates on cards, prepaid wallets and UPI, only the registration and the first debit need an additional factor of authentication, such as an OTP or PIN. Later debits go through without one up to ₹15,000 each, the limit RBI set in June 2022, or up to ₹1,00,000, since December 2023, for insurance premiums, mutual fund SIPs and credit card bills. Every card and UPI line in Rajesh's list is under ₹15,000, so after the first debit none asked him anything. His NACH mandates sit outside this framework and never ask once registered.
For card and UPI mandates, the issuer must alert you at least 24 hours before each debit with the merchant's name, the amount and the date, and let you opt out of that one debit or the whole mandate. A yearly renewal's alert is your last chance to skip it.
How often should you check the three lists?
Rajesh checks the three lists at every third monthly money review, before the next quarter's renewals. He also sets aside a twelfth of each yearly renewal on salary day, as in why a salary runs out before month end, so a renewal month is not short.
Dhi looks at what your recurring costs take from your cash flow alongside your net worth, protection and goals, and answers questions from your own numbers. Dhi nudges you when something needs attention, never mis-sells and earns no commissions.
Frequently asked questions
This is general information for salaried individuals in India, not personalised financial advice.
