Refund Management

Role Required: SOCIETY_ADMIN
Navigation: Sidebar → Booking → Refund Requests
Last Updated: March 2026 | Portal Version: 1.0

Overview

When a booking is cancelled, the citizen may be entitled to a refund of the payments they have made. Refund management covers the entire lifecycle from the initial cancellation request through to the final settlement — including buffer periods, admin approval, online gateway refunds, and offline (manual) refunds.

Refund List View

The Refund Management page provides a full overview of all refund requests for your society.

Header Actions:

• Offline Refunds — Link to offline refund processing (/admin/refunds/offline)
• Settings — Link to refund policy configuration (/admin/refunds/settings)

Summary Cards:

Card	Description
Total Pending	Total amount and count of pending refund requests
Total Refunded	Total amount and count of completed refunds
This Month	Refund amount and count for the current month
Cancellation Fees	Total cancellation fees collected

Status Tabs:

Filter refunds by status using these tabs:

• All — All refund requests (with count)
• Buffer Period — Requests in cooling-off period
• Pending — Awaiting admin approval (with count)
• Processing — Refund in progress
• Completed — Fully settled
• Rejected — Denied by admin

Search: Search by refund number, booking number, or user name.

Table Columns:

Column	Description
Refund #	Refund number (e.g., RFD-2026-000019) and associated booking number
User	User email/name and role badge (User/Admin)
Status	Current status badge (Approved, Pending Approval, etc.)
Refund Amount	Refund amount and cancellation fee breakdown
Date	Date of the refund request
Actions	View — Opens the refund detail page

Refund Status Lifecycle

AWAITING_BUFFER → PENDING → APPROVED → PROCESSING → COMPLETED
                    ↓           ↓           ↓
                 REJECTED    REVOKED    AWAITING_OFFLINE_REFUND → COMPLETED
                                            ↓
                                     PARTIALLY_COMPLETED
                                            ↓
                                          FAILED

Status Reference

Status	Meaning	Admin Action
AWAITING_BUFFER	In cooling-off period — admin can contact citizen to discuss	Optional: contact citizen, or wait
PENDING	Buffer expired, awaiting admin approval (if required)	Approve or Reject
APPROVED	Admin approved — ready for refund processing	Initiate refund
REJECTED	Admin rejected the refund — booking restored to CONFIRMED	None — terminal
REVOKED	Citizen withdrew their cancellation request within revocation window	None — terminal
PROCESSING	Online refund submitted to Razorpay gateway	Monitor — wait for gateway
AWAITING_OFFLINE_REFUND	Online portion done, offline refund pending admin action	Process offline refund
COMPLETED	All refunds settled (online + offline)	None — terminal ✅
PARTIALLY_COMPLETED	Some refunds succeeded, others pending/failed	Retry failed, process remaining
FAILED	Refund processing failed at gateway	Retry or force-process

How Refunds Are Initiated

Refunds are triggered by booking cancellation, not created independently:

1. Citizen requests cancellation → Society Admin approves → Refund request created
2. Admin initiates cancellation → Refund request created automatically
3. Refund enters AWAITING_BUFFER (if buffer is configured) or PENDING (if no buffer)

Refund Amount Calculation

The system automatically calculates refundable amounts:

Component	Description
Total Online Amount	Sum of all online (Razorpay) payments
Total Offline Amount	Sum of all verified offline payments
Total Paid Amount	Online + Offline
Non-Refundable Amount	Membership fee + any non-refundable charges
Deduction Amount	Cancellation fee (configured percentage of total)
Refundable Online Amount	Online payments minus deductions (online-first deduction)
Refundable Offline Amount	Offline payments minus remaining deductions

Deduction Logic

Cancellation fees are deducted from online payments first. If the deduction exceeds the online amount, the remainder is deducted from offline payments. This minimizes the admin's manual work.

Step-by-Step: Processing a Refund

1. Review the Refund Request

1. Navigate to Refunds → Refund Management
2. Click on a refund in PENDING status
3. Review:
   • Refund Number: RFD-YYYY-NNNNNN
   • Booking details: Member name, plot, layout
   • Cancellation reason: Why the citizen/admin cancelled
   • Amount breakdown: Online, offline, deductions, refundable amounts
   • Timeline: When requested, buffer expiry, revocation expiry

2. Approve or Reject

To Approve:

1. Click Approve Refund
2. Add review notes (optional)
3. Status moves to APPROVED
4. You can now initiate the actual refund

To Reject:

1. Click Reject Refund
2. Enter the rejection reason (required) — e.g., "Cancellation window expired", "Policy exception denied"
3. Status moves to REJECTED
4. The booking is restored to CONFIRMED status
5. Citizen is notified of the rejection

3. Initiate Online Refund

If there are online payments to refund:

1. Open the approved refund request
2. Click Initiate Online Refund
3. The system creates refund transactions for each original Razorpay payment
4. Refunds are submitted to the Razorpay gateway
5. Status moves to PROCESSING
6. Expect 5-7 business days for the refund to reach the citizen's bank account

4. Initiate Offline Refund

If there were offline (cash/cheque/NEFT) payments:

1. The refund request shows AWAITING_OFFLINE_REFUND after online portion is done
2. Click Initiate Offline Refund
3. Offline refund transactions are created in PENDING status
4. Process the actual refund: Prepare cheque / initiate bank transfer to citizen
5. Once done, mark the offline refund as Processed with the reference details
6. Have another admin Verify the offline refund (Maker-Checker)

5. Completion

When all refund components (online + offline) are complete:

• Status moves to COMPLETED
• Booking status moves to CANCELLED
• Plot returns to AVAILABLE
• Citizen receives completion notification

Buffer Period & Revocation Window

These are configurable per society in Settings:

Buffer Period

• Time between cancellation request and refund processing start
• Purpose: Give admin time to contact citizen and discuss alternatives
• During buffer: Admin can call the citizen, offer alternatives, or let it expire
• Default: Configurable (can be 0 for immediate processing)

Revocation Window

• Time during which the citizen can withdraw their cancellation
• If revoked: Booking returns to CONFIRMED, refund is cancelled
• Default: 24 hours (configurable)

Request → [Buffer Period] → [Revocation Window expires] → PENDING for approval
                              ↑
              Citizen can click "Revoke Cancellation" here

Cancellation Fee

If your society has a cancellation fee configured:

• Calculated as a percentage of the total paid amount
• Deducted from the refund before processing
• Can be waived by admin (CancellationFeeWaived flag)
• Shown in the refund breakdown for transparency

Pending Actions Dashboard

For any refund request, the system shows what actions are available:

Action	When Available
Approve/Reject	Status is PENDING or AWAITING_BUFFER
Initiate Online Refund	APPROVED and online amounts exist, not yet initiated
Initiate Offline Refund	APPROVED/PROCESSING/AWAITING_OFFLINE_REFUND and offline amounts exist
Retry Failed	A refund transaction has FAILED status
Force Process	Automatic processing stalled — admin can override

Common Scenarios

"Citizen wants to cancel but I want to convince them to stay"

1. During the Buffer Period, contact the citizen
2. If they agree to continue, wait for the revocation window
3. They can click Revoke Cancellation in their dashboard
4. If they don't revoke, the refund proceeds to PENDING

"Online refund processed but offline refund is pending"

1. The system tracks online and offline separately
2. Status will be AWAITING_OFFLINE_REFUND or PARTIALLY_COMPLETED
3. Arrange the offline refund (cheque/bank transfer) to the citizen
4. Mark the offline refund as processed and verified
5. Once both are done, status auto-updates to COMPLETED

"Refund failed at the gateway"

1. Open the refund request → View transactions
2. Find the failed transaction(s) — note the gateway error message
3. Click Retry to re-submit to Razorpay
4. If retry fails repeatedly, contact Razorpay support with the payment ID
5. As a last resort, use Force Process to mark as manually resolved

"Admin wants to waive the cancellation fee"

1. Open the refund request (before approval)
2. Toggle the Waive Cancellation Fee option
3. The refund amount will be recalculated without the deduction
4. Approve the refund
5. The waiver is logged in the audit trail

"Citizen revoked their cancellation but the plot was already released"

This shouldn't happen — the plot is only released when the refund reaches COMPLETED status. If the booking is in CANCELLATION_REQUESTED and the citizen revokes:

• Booking returns to CONFIRMED
• Plot remains BOOKED
• No financial changes occur

Refund Notifications

The system sends notifications at each stage (if enabled in settings):

Event	Notification
Refund Requested	Citizen: "Your cancellation request has been received"
Buffer Started	Citizen: "Your refund will be processed after [date]"
Revocation Window Expiring	Citizen: "Last chance to withdraw your cancellation"
Approved	Citizen: "Your refund has been approved"
Rejected	Citizen: "Your refund request was rejected — [reason]"
Processing	Citizen: "Your refund of ₹X is being processed. Expected by [date]"
Completed	Citizen: "Your refund of ₹X has been completed"

Related Pages

• Booking Management — Cancellation flow triggers refunds
• Settings — Configure refund policies, buffer period, cancellation fee
• Reports — Refund reports and financial impact
• Recording Offline Payments — Offline payment verification