Cancellation & Refund Policy

In short

• Cancel for free until 60 minutes before the pickup window starts. You get a full refund.
• After that you cannot cancel. If you do not collect within 30 minutes after the window ends, it is a no-show and there is no refund.
• If the shop cancels or cannot hand over your order, you get a full refund.
• If the food has a real problem, report it within 24 hours of pickup, with photos.
• Refunds go only to your original payment method. Stataa never refunds by personal UPI, bank transfer or cash, and never asks for your PIN or OTP.

1. Why these rules exist

When you reserve food, the shop sets it aside for you and stops selling it to anyone else. Surplus food cannot wait for another day. That is why late cancellations and no-shows are not refunded, and why shops are penalised when they cancel on you.

In this policy, a "business day" means Monday to Friday, except public and bank holidays.

2. If you cancel

• You can cancel in the app, on your order, until 60 minutes before the pickup window starts.
• For example, if the window starts at 8:00 pm and the cutoff is 60 minutes, you can cancel until 7:00 pm.
• You get a full refund to your original payment method. There is no cancellation charge.
• After the cutoff, the order can no longer be cancelled.

3. If you do not collect (no-show)

• If your order is not collected within 30 minutes after the pickup window ends, it becomes a no-show.
• There is no refund for a no-show. The shop set the food aside for you, so the shop is paid.
• If you are running late, the shop may still hand over your order if it still has it, but it does not have to.
• If you could not collect because of the shop (for example, it was closed, refused to hand over, or the food was not there), that is not a no-show. Report it as explained in section 5, and we will refund you in full once we confirm what happened.

4. If the shop or Stataa cancels

• If a shop cancels your order (for example, it sold out or had to close), you get a full refund automatically, and we tell you in the app and by email.
• The shop receives a strike. Shops that keep cancelling are suspended.
• Stataa may also cancel an order, with a full refund, if we suspect fraud, if the shop is suspended, if a listing breaks our rules, or if a technical error occurs.

5. If something is wrong with your order

How to report

• Report within 24 hours of pickup, using "Report a problem" on the order, or the contact form in the app or on stataa.com. You will get a ticket reference like STA-12345.
• Add clear photos of the food, its packaging and any label, and explain what is wrong.
• Keep the food and packaging until we reply, if you safely can.

What counts as a problem

• The food is unsafe or spoiled: mould, a bad smell, a foreign object, damaged or leaking packaging.
• A packaged item was past its use-by or expiry date.
• The food was not as described: the wrong Item, a different category from the Surprise Bag's description, or clearly much less than the shop stated.
• The veg or non-veg marking was wrong, or the food contained an allergen the shop did not declare. We treat these as serious.
• Part of an Item order was missing.
• The shop did not hand over your order during the pickup window.

What does not count

• You did not like what was in a Surprise Bag, but it matched the stated category, diet marking and allergens.
• You changed your mind after collecting.
• The food went bad because it was not stored properly after pickup. See the Food Safety & Surplus Food Disclaimer for storage advice.

What happens next

Our support team reviews your report and may ask the shop for its side. We then give a full or partial refund, or explain why we cannot. We will tell you the outcome within the timelines in Grievance Redressal & Contact. If the shop was at fault, the refund may be charged back to the shop.

If you feel ill or have an allergic reaction, get medical help first. Then report it to us. You can also complain to FSSAI through the Food Safety Connect app or website, or on the toll-free number 1800-112-100.

6. How refunds are paid

• Refunds go only to the payment method you used, through our payment partner. We cannot send a refund to a different UPI ID, bank account or card, and we never refund in cash.
• We start the refund within 2 business days of your cancellation, the shop's cancellation or our decision on your report.
• After that, the time depends on your bank or payment app. UPI refunds usually arrive faster. Card and net banking refunds usually take 5 to 7 business days.
• You can see the refund status on your order. If the money has not arrived 7 business days after the refund was started, write to payments@stataa.com with your order number and refund reference.
• A partial refund works the same way, for the part of the price we agreed to refund.

Stataa staff will never ask for your UPI PIN, OTP, CVV or password to "process" a refund, and never ask you to scan a QR code or install a screen-sharing app. Anyone who does is a scammer. See Scam & Payment Safety.

7. If a payment fails

If money leaves your account but your order is not confirmed, the payment has failed. Your bank or payment app reverses it automatically under Reserve Bank of India rules, usually by the next business day for UPI and within 5 days for cards. If it does not come back, contact your bank or payments@stataa.com with the transaction reference.

8. Disputes with your bank (chargebacks)

You have the right to dispute a payment with your bank or card issuer. Please contact us first, since it is usually faster. Raising a chargeback after you have collected your food without any problem, or after you already received a refund, is abuse, and we may suspend your account.

If your bank or our payment partner does not resolve a payment complaint, you can go to the Reserve Bank of India's Ombudsman at cms.rbi.org.in or call 14448.

9. For shops: how this affects your payout

• Customer cancels before the cutoff: the order is reversed. No payout, no commission, no penalty.
• No-show: you are paid as if the order was collected.
• You cancel, or you fail to hand over during the window: the customer gets a full refund, you receive no payout, and you get a strike.
• Food problem upheld: the refund is charged back to you. If you have not been paid yet, it is taken from that payout. If you have, it is deducted from your next payouts. For a full refund, we also do not keep our commission. For a partial refund, the commission is reduced in the same proportion.
• We tell you about every charge-back, with the reason and the customer's evidence. If you disagree, write to sellers@stataa.com within 7 days.

The Seller Partner Agreement has the full payout rules.

10. Contact

• Refund questions: payments@stataa.com
• Other help: the contact form in the app or on stataa.com, or support@stataa.com
• If you are not satisfied with our answer: grievance@stataa.com (see Grievance Redressal & Contact)