ACH Debit rejection and return
If an ACH debit is rejected or returned, LotusPay informs the merchant and the customer of the reason. Some return reasons can be rectified.
When a transaction fails, LotusPay informs you and the customer by email. If you have integrated with LotusPay's API, we can also inform you via webhook.
LotusPay does not automatically retry rejected or returned transaction. You can retry by creating a new ACH debit.
Some transactions can be rejected by LotusPay's bank, even before they are submitted to the NACH system. This would be for technical reasons, such as the mandate's frequency not permitting the transaction in the same period as the previous transaction. We mark these as cancelled.
Click here
to see a full list of NACH Debit rejection and return error codes.
Click here to see ACH Debit statuses.
Sponsor bank initial reject (debits cancelled)
Some sponsor banks (including Yes Bank and HDFC Bank) validate debit input requests against their own mandate data in their mandate management systems, even before sending them to NPCI. They may reject debits that do not meet their validation conditions e.g. the mandate is inward-cancelled. We mark these debits as cancelled as and when your sponsor bank informs us.
Reject codes
Reject codes are for debit transaction inputs that are rejected by the NACH system immediately (around midday), before they are even sent to the destination bank. These are usually technical payment system reasons, such as the mandate already being in a cancelled state.
Typical reject cases are:
01 - Account closed - NPCI has marked the mandate as cancelled. If you did not do input cancellation, it means the destination bank did inward cancellation. (NB: This code is used for both reject and return).
21 - Invalid UMRN or inactivate mandate - this means the mandate is not active. If it's showing as active in LotusPay, it means:
The customer has cancelled the mandate at the destination bank end and the sponsor bank has not informed us or we don't have inward cancellation
integration with that sponsor bank. LotusPay will mark the mandate as cancelled upon any rejected debit if there is a previous confirmed/returned debit; orIf the mandate variant is emandate_api and it was activated in the last 48 hours, then wait until the second working day after mandate activation. It takes one or two working days for sponsor banks and destination banks to update their mandate management systems.
23 - Mismatch in mandate debtor account number - This means NPCI does not recognise the debtor bank account number in the mandate. If this is an imported external mandate, it means you gave us the wrong bank account number. If this is a mandate you registered in LotusPay, it means NPCI has a different bank account number on record.
27 - Mandate amount mismatch - This means you inserted a debit amount larger than the mandate's maximum amount, or different to the mandate's fixed amount (collection amount).
NPCI does not charge penalties for rejected debits.
Return codes
Return codes are for transactions that reached the destination bank and were returned for the reason specified by that bank. These are usually for punitive reasons, such as balance being insufficient, or account not in good standing.
Typical return codes are:
01 - Account closed - In general, if the bank account is closed, the destination bank should send mandate inward cancellation to NPCI. Thereafter, debit inputs should be rejected by NPCI. If that is not the case, then it means the destination bank missed to send mandate inward cancellation. Then you should do mandate input cancellation. Sending another debit is pointless.
02 - No such account - this means the customer's bank account was closed but the destination bank did not cancel the mandate. LotusPay will mark the mandate as cancelled in due course.
04 - Balance insufficient - There were insufficient funds in the customer's bank account. Ask the customer to fund the account.
05 - Not arranged for - The customer's bank account is not in good standing. Ask the customer to discuss with their bank branch.
08 - Mandate not received - The customer's bank is not satisfied with the current status of the mandate. Ask the customer to discuss with their bank branch.
11 - Invalid IFSC/MICR code - The customer's bank branch has closed or merged. LotusPay usually handles bank mergers at the platform level. Contact support if you are seeing an unusually large number of these cases.
68 - Account frozen or blocked - In general, if the account is currently frozen or blocked, it may later become unfrozen or unblocked. Then debits should be possible. Try again later. This is why LotusPay does not mark the mandate as cancelled for this return code.
When a transaction fails for the 'Balance Insufficient' reason and some other reasons related to temporary issues, you can retry by creating a new ACH debit. In import and API, you can optionally specify the product type as RPN to indicate re-presentation.
If the returned transaction leads to a default by the customer in their agreement with you, you should handle this with the customer and authorities directly. LotusPay's role is purely to process the transaction.
NPCI considers all returned debits when evaluating penalty charges.
Bank extended cases
Some transactions may be 'Bank Extended' i.e. the customer's bank is taking an extra one or two working days to process the transaction. The transaction will then move to its final status.