Refund & Cancellation Policy

Cittrabha™ lists small-batch, freshly prepared food made by independent home Creators. Because the items are perishable and made-to-order, our refund policy is tied to the booking window of your order. Bookings for every drop close 5 days before the cooking day (the calendar day, in IST, that the Creator prepares your food), because we source ingredients and reusable packaging for the exact number of plates booked and ship them to the Creator in advance.

1. Customer-initiated cancellations

• Before bookings close (more than 5 days before the cooking day) — 100% refund of the total amount you paid (food + delivery). Cancellation is self-serve and instant.
• After bookings close (the last 5 days, the cooking day, and after) — the order is locked in and no refund is payable. By that point ingredients and packaging have already been procured against your plate and the Creator has committed their time. Self-serve cancellation is turned off; you may still send a cancellation request from the order page, and our team will review it. Any goodwill refund in these cases is entirely at our discretion.

The exact cancellation cut-off and the refund amount are always shown on the order page before you confirm, so there are no surprises.

2. Creator-initiated cancellations

If a Creator cancels (for example due to ingredient shortage or unforeseen circumstances), you receive a 100% refund automatically and no platform fee is charged to you — regardless of when the cancellation happens.

3. Failed delivery (customer unreachable)

If the delivery attempt fails because the customer is unreachable, the address is inaccessible, or nobody is available to receive the order, no refund is payable, since the food has already been prepared and dispatched. If the delivery fails because of a Creator, platform or rider issue, you receive a 100% refund.

4. Quality issues

If your order arrives damaged, incomplete, spoiled, or significantly different from the description, please raise a complaint within 24 hours of delivery via the order page or by writing to the Grievance Officer. We may request photographs as evidence. Eligible refunds are issued in full or in part at our reasonable discretion. This is separate from the cancellation rules above.

5. Refund timelines

Approved refunds are initiated within 3 business days and credited to your original payment method. Banks and card networks may take an additional 5–7 business days to reflect the credit.

6. How to cancel or request a refund

1. Open the order from your Orders page.
2. Tap Cancel order while bookings are still open — the full refund is shown on screen and processed automatically.
3. Once bookings have closed, tap Request cancellation and give a short reason. Our team reviews within a few hours; no refund is guaranteed at this stage.
4. For quality issues, tap Get help and include the order ID and photos.

7. Worked examples

Order total ₹800, cooking day Saturday the 20th. Bookings for that drop close at the start of Monday the 15th (IST).

• You cancel on the 12th (bookings still open) → ₹800 refunded (100%).
• You cancel on the 17th (bookings closed) → no refund; request goes to our team for review.
• You cancel on the cooking day itself → no refund.
• Creator cancels for any reason → ₹800 refunded (100%).

8. Escalation

Unresolved complaints can be escalated as set out in our Grievance Redressal page, including escalation to the National Consumer Helpline (1915) and consumer fora.