E-commerce major Flipkart on Monday launched its instant refund mechanism facility, a move that will help its customers get refunds as early as within 24 hours of returning the product. Previously, the refund process used to take three to five business days.

"Continuing the innovation journey by announcing this newly launched payment mechanism, Flipkart aims to ensure that refunds for Cash on Deliver (CoD) orders are credited back to customers instantly, as soon as the product reaches the Flipkart hub," Flipkart said in a statement.

The instant refund will be completed using Immediate Payments System (IMPS) transfers, it said adding that the CoD IMPS return facility is currently active for banks having IMPS transaction capability.

Entitled customers will be regularly notified about the status of their refund via SMS and emails, it said.

"Our return procedure is already one of the fastest in the country. In the last two months, we have extended this further by piloting the IMPS refunds programme, which has seen positive adoption and traction from our end users," Flipkart Chief Product Officer Punit Soni said.

An instant, hassle-free refund experience, combined with consistent and accurate communication to the customer is definitely going to be a breakthrough, and a way forward for all future payment innovations, he added.

"We strongly feel that enabling our fast-growing product IMPS with Flipkart's quicker refund strategy will create a benchmark experience to customers," National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) COO Dilip Asbe said.

Transactions on IMPS can be accessed and initiated across different channels like mobile phones, PCs, NUUP, ATM and at bank branches.

More than 12 million successful transactions are been processed every month, Asbe said.