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FAQs
regarding ECS (Electronic Clearing System) |
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How
does ECS work? |
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Electronic
Clearing Service (Debit Clearing) Scheme or ECS (Debit Clearing) as it is popularly known is a convenient, safe
and economical way of collecting regular periodic payments from a large number of consumers, This service has been
introduced.
The ECS ( Debit Clearing) process takes between 5 to 10 working days. The day to day process is given below assuming that the
first day is a Monday. Refer to the location list below.
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How
long does it take for my bills to be paid to the
service provider(Biller/Payee)? / How does the ECS
process work in my city of payment? |
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Once you schedule payment through
us, it has to be credited to your service provider.
The bill amount is debited from your bank account and
transferred to your service provider via the ECS service
provided by the Reserve Bank Of India (RBI). The processs
takes between 5 to 10 working days.
The ECS process depends on your city of payment. This
means that your payments needs to be scheduled in advance
as per your requirement in your city of payment. Here
is the list of all the cities that would tell you when
to schedule your payments so that the money reaches the
service provider in time.
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Locations
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When
to schedule your paymets?
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Mumbai
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At least 3 working days before the due
date |
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Delhi NCR
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At least 6 working
days before the due date |
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Pune
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At least 9 working
days before the due date |
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Bangalore
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At least 7 working
days before the due date |
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Kolkatta
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At least 4 working
days before the due date |
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Ahmedabad
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At least 6 working
days before the due date |
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Chennai
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At least 4 working
days before the due date |
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Hyderabad
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At least 7 working
days before the due date |
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Chandigarh
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At least 6 working
days before the due date |
(Note:
that you only schedule your bills in advance. Your
bank account generally gets debited only a day before
the actual bill due date. This ensures that the
money is debited from your bank account and paid
to the service provider on or before the due date.)
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Who provides this service? |
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This service
is provided by the Reserve Bank of India, thereby making
it safe and reliable. |
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How
is BillJunction using this service? |
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BillJunction
is using the service after taking an approval from RBI.
It will also take an authorisation from you through an
ECS Mandate form for making payment from your bank account.
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What
is an ECS Mandate Form? |
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Through
this form you authorise BillJunction to collect
money directly from your bank account using ECS
(Debit Clearing). The mandate provides details such
as the account holder's name, account number, name
of bank/branch etc. and is duly certified by the
bank concerned. |
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I've
already submitted an ECS Mandate to my Biller. Can the
same mandate be used for BillJunction? |
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No, To
avail of BillJunction service you need to submit a
fresh mandate to BillJunction, and withdraw your previous
mandates. Please note that you will be able to pay bills
of all your service providers through this single mandate.
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When
do I have to keep my account funded? |
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You should keep
your account funded on the fifth working day, which is essentially
the Settlement Date. Don't worry, even if you forget we will
send you an email reminder each time your account needs to be
debited for making payment of your bills.
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Can I stop a payment once it goes into the ECS (Debit Clearing) cycle? |
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The payment cannot
be stopped after ECS (Debit Clearing) process has been initiated i.e. once the data is given to the Clearing house. However you
can instruct your bank not to honour this payment ( Like a Stop Payment Instruction ).
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Do I have to give an ECS Mandate before every cycle?
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No, you have to give the ECS Mandate once only. This mandate remains valid till you withdraw it.
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Can
one mandate be used for more than one bank account? |
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No,
For every bank account you wish to use, a separate mandate has
to be given.
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Can
all banks participate in this service? |
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All
banks having MICR codes, the 9 digit code number at the bottom left hand corner of a cheque, can participate in this service.
Currently we offer the facility for Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Kolkatta, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Chandigarh branches, i.e. bank accounts with MICR code starting with 400, 110, 700, 411, 560, 500, 380, 600 & 160 respectively.
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Can
I designate an outstation account for the ECS process? |
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Yes,
you can designate any bank participating in ECS ( Debit ) process
in Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Kolkatta, Pune, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Chennai.
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What
type of bank accounts will be eligible for this facility?
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You
can make payments through ECS (Debit Clearing) using Savings
Account, Current Account and Cash Credit Account.
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Can
I make payments in ECS (Debit Clearing) using a Joint Bank Account?
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You
can make payments made using a joint account if the mode of
holding of the account is "Either or Survivor" or "Anyone or
Survivor".
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Can
I instruct my bank to stop payment? |
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Yes,
as in the case of cheque, you can give stop payment instructions
to your bank.
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Can
a mandate once given be withdrawn? |
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Yes,
you can withdraw a mandate by deleting the desired bank account
from your list of enabled bank accounts on our website. Once
you delete an account, we deactivate it and, therefore, stop
sending debit requests on it.
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Can
a single mandate be used for more than one type of payment?
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Yes,
BillJunction has made the process easier for you. You can use
the same mandate to pay all your bills through BillJunction.
What's more! even the service charges of BillJunction can be
paid using this service. To add any new type of bill you just
have to include it in your personal list of Billers/Payees.
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How
will I know the payment has been made? |
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BillJunction
would send you an e-mail confirmation of every payment made.
With BillJunction you can get a complete record and verification
of all payments you have made through us. Further as all payments
are being made by debiting your bank account, these would be
reflected in your bank statement as well.
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How
would I know to whom the payment is made? |
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We
will send you an e-mail notification 4-5 days prior to the date
when your account will be debited, indicating the name of the
biller for whom the payment will be made. Also, you can access
the Archives on our website and checkout the details of all
your payments.
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Can
I pay any amount using the facility? |
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You
can pay upto Rs. 5 lakh for any single payment.This as per Reserve
Bank of India's guidelines. There is no limit on multiple payments.
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Incase
of multiple payments, what happens if the balance in the account
is not enough to honour all of them? |
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Generally
banks honour the highest value debit. They also try to make
the payment which they feel is more important to the consumer.
For example, if your bank has to debit Rs.400 for your telephone
bill and Rs.100 for credit card bill and the balance in your
account is only Rs. 450, your bank would normally debit Rs.
400 and pay for the telephone bill. However, these policies
may be different for different banks.
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