Money sent to India but not in the account: what the bank is waiting for

If you have not done the basic checks yet (the name on the transfer, the day you sent it), start with the app says complete but the money has not arrived. This page is about what happens inside the Indian bank.

First, get the reference

Every transfer has a reference number, and nobody at the bank can find the money without it.

If you used Wise, it is called the UTR (unique transaction reference). It is in the email Wise sent when you made the transfer. Wise also lets you download a PDF receipt from the transfer details, and your family can show it at the bank. Other apps have their own reference in the transfer details.

If you sent from a UK bank as an international payment, ask your bank for the SWIFT confirmation. SWIFT is the system banks use to send money between countries. The confirmation is the bank's copy of the payment message (banks call it an MT103). It has the reference the Indian bank can search for.

Then ask your provider one more question: did the money go to her bank as an international payment, or did a partner bank pay it inside India? The answer tells you which checks it is stuck on.

What the Indian bank checks before it pays

State Bank of India publishes its own list. For a payment from abroad of up to 25,000 US dollars (nearly £19,000), SBI pays it into the account without asking for papers if all of these are true:

• The payment has the sender's full details.
• It has the receiver's full details.
• The purpose of the payment is clearly stated.
• The bank's identity check on the account holder is complete: it has her ID and address records on file, up to date.
• The account is not a newly opened one that still has a block on withdrawals.
• The money has actually reached SBI from the sending bank.

If one of these is missing, SBI does one of three things. It holds the payment and asks the sending bank to explain. It passes it to the branch for more checks. Or it sends it back. Its rules say it asks the sending bank first, not your family. That is often why nobody in India hears anything.

If the money came from an overseas money transfer company through its partner bank in India, the rule comes from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The partner bank must mark the payment as money from abroad. The receiving bank must finish its identity check on the account holder before she can have the money. If the check is not complete, the bank can keep the money out of the account until it is done. Or it can pay the money in and stop her taking it out until it is done.

HDFC, ICICI, PNB and other banks have their own rules. The SBI list is still a good guide to what a bank in India is looking for.

SBI's clock: 10 working days, then the money goes back

SBI's rule is plain. A payment that arrives in order before 4.30 pm India time is credited the same working day. If something is missing, SBI asks the sending bank that same day and holds the payment. If a proper answer comes within 10 working days, SBI pays it in. If no answer comes, or the answer is not good enough, SBI returns the money after 10 working days.

What to do next depends on how long it has been, and on the account.

• It has been less than two weeks. Ask your provider whether the Indian bank has sent any questions. Answer them fast. The clock is running.
• It has been more than two weeks. Ask your provider whether the money has come back. If it has not, your family goes to the branch with the reference.
• The money shows in the account but she cannot take it out. One reason can be that the bank has not finished its identity check on her. Another is a block on a newly opened account (the next point). She goes to the branch with her ID card and a proof of her address, and asks what is stopping her taking the money out.
• The account was opened recently. Ask the branch whether a new-account block is still on it. SBI names this as a reason to hold the payment.
• The ID and address the bank holds for her have not been updated in years. She can update them at any branch of the same bank. If nothing has changed, RBI rules let her give a self-declaration saying so.
• You are about to send the money again. Do not, until you know where the first payment is. Two sends stuck in the same hold is twice the problem.

What to say at the branch

The account holder goes, with the passbook, her ID card and a proof of her address. Give the bank the reference, the sender's name, the amount and the date it was sent. Then say what the money is for, in plain words. Banks call this the purpose of the payment. When they ask where to put it, they call it a "disposal instruction".

"This is a transfer from my son in the UK, for family maintenance. Here is the reference. Please tell me why it is on hold, and what you need from me."

"Family maintenance" is the purpose for money sent to support family. SBI's own list of purposes includes it as money from Indians living abroad for family maintenance and savings. If the bank asks for a form, or for a new copy of her ID or proof of address, ask for the request in writing, do it there, and keep a copy.

If the money is going into your own account in India, not a family member's, the account type matters too. Read which account is your money actually going to.

When to escalate, and to whom

Each step needs the one before it. The RBI will not look at a complaint the bank has not seen first.

1. At SBI, for a payment up to 25,000 US dollars, the account holder emails SBI's central desk for money from abroad on day one at [email protected], with the reference.
2. No answer by day three: write to [email protected]. No answer by day five: write to [email protected].
3. Make a formal complaint to the bank in writing and keep the proof. For SBI, the complaint page is crh.sbi.bank.in.
4. If the bank does not answer within 30 days, or the answer is not good enough, complain to the RBI Ombudsman at cms.rbi.org.in. It is free. File within 90 days.
5. For help with the RBI form, call the RBI helpline on 14448. Staff answer from 8 am to 10 pm, Monday to Saturday, in English, Hindi and ten regional languages.

The 90 days is new. The RBI's complaint scheme changed on 1 July 2026, and many bank pages still say one year. Count 90 days from the end of the bank's 30 days, or from the bank's last reply, whichever is later.

On your side, if your provider lost track of the money or will not say where it is, complain to the provider in writing. A UK payment app or bank has 15 business days to give you a final answer, or 35 in exceptional cases if it writes to tell you why. After that, you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman, which is free.

Next time

Choose "family maintenance" as the purpose when your app asks. Type her name exactly as it is on her passbook, in English letters. Ask her to keep the ID and address the bank holds for her up to date. If she banks with ICICI and you send an international bank payment, she can tell ICICI about it and its purpose before you send, through its Smart Wire service.

Corrections

None so far. If we get something wrong, the fix is dated here.