The point
An Indian crypto platform has fifteen days to resolve your complaint. After that you can go over its head, free of charge.
Every platform operating here must publish the name and contact details of a Grievance Officer. That requirement is Rule 3(2) of the IT Rules, 2021.
The officer has 24 hours to acknowledge your complaint and 15 days to resolve it. If that window closes with nothing settled, you can appeal to a government committee. Filing is free and the process runs entirely online.
Before you write to anyone
Screenshot the problem as it stands: the stuck transaction, the failed withdrawal, the balance that does not match. Note the exact date and time.
Keep your registered email and account ID to hand, the same KYC details you used to sign up. Both go in the first line of whatever you send.
Write to the platform's own channel first. The 24-hour clock starts when your complaint reaches the published Grievance Officer, or the platform's stated complaints channel. A review site, a tweet or a WhatsApp forward has no effect on it.
This is check five from the five questions to ask before your first deposit: who answers when something goes wrong, and how fast.
The complaint, in three steps
Step 1: Find who to write to
The contact rarely sits on the homepage. Check the footer first, then the Terms of Use or Terms and Conditions, then the Privacy Policy. Search each page for the word "grievance".
We ran that search on four platforms today, using the same method we used to read what platforms actually publish. Four platforms produced four different answers, set out below.
Skip the support FAQ and go to the terms document. A grievance clause is written for the specific complaint you are about to raise.
Step 2: Put the fifteen-day clock on the record
Email the contact you found. A chat widget alone is harder to timestamp and produce later, so put it in writing.
Then state three things plainly: what happened and when, and what you want done about it. Add that you expect acknowledgement within 24 hours and resolution within 15 days, under Rule 3(2) of the IT Rules, 2021.
Naming the rule tells the platform you know the clock exists. It also leaves you a dated record to point back to if day fifteen arrives in silence.
Step 3: If day fifteen passes, appeal for free
If you get no resolution, or one you disagree with, you can appeal to the Grievance Appellate Committee. You have 30 days from that response, or from the deadline lapsing.
The appeal runs online at gac.gov.in, a portal built and hosted by the National Informatics Centre. Filing costs nothing. The Committee aims to decide within 30 calendar days of receiving it.
We read the portal on 27 August 2026: 60,136 appeals filed, 11,197 already disposed.
This route gets you an answer from a platform that is still operating. It is a separate question from what happens if the platform shuts down entirely.
What four platforms published on 27 August 2026
We read the Terms of Use, Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy of four Indian crypto platforms. We looked for one thing: a named Grievance Officer with contact details, the way Rule 3(2) requires. We report only what those documents state.
Giottus names an officer, with a phone number
Section 19.4 of Giottus's Terms and Conditions names a Grievance Officer, with a published phone number, +91 78248 78248. The same document separately names a Nodal Officer, reserved for law enforcement and regulatory requests. It also refers to Giottus's FIU-IND reporting-entity registration.
ZebPay's contact is a Senior Compliance Manager
ZebPay's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy name a Senior Compliance Manager for privacy queries. That contact is reachable by email, or by post at the registered office of Awlencan Innovations India Limited in Hyderabad. General complaints route through a support portal. Neither document uses the words "Grievance Officer".
Unocoin lists only a support number and email
Unocoin's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy list a customer support phone number and email. The line is staffed 9:30 am to 6:30 pm, Monday to Saturday. Neither document names an individual or a designated grievance role.
At Bitbns, the privacy policy dates from 2019
Bitbns's Terms and Conditions point complaints at a general support inbox. Its Privacy Policy carries no Grievance Officer clause either. That page states it was last updated 26 July 2019, more than seven years before we read it.
One platform out of four named an officer on the day we read them. A platform can update a page the day after this piece runs. Check the current version yourself before you write to any of them, using the same read-what-they-publish approach applied to Mudrex's coin rules.
What the grievance officer route does not do
The Grievance Officer and the Grievance Appellate Committee come from one rule, about how an intermediary must handle a user's complaint against it. That rule says nothing about whether virtual digital assets are a regulated financial product in India.
Giottus states the gap in its own terms. FIU-IND registration is a reporting status under anti-money-laundering law, and it carries no investor protection or compensation scheme. The same gap applies to every platform in this piece, named or unnamed.
What the process above gives you is a timestamped answer on the record, and a free escalation route when that answer never comes. Your crypto stays uninsured throughout, and whether the crypto in your basket is actually yours stays a separate open question.
Complaint handling and deposit protection are two different things. Platforms blur them in marketing, so hold them apart when you read it.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Grievance Officer, and why must a crypto platform have one?
Under Rule 3(2) of the IT Rules, 2021, every intermediary running a website or app in India must publish a Grievance Officer's name and contact details. It must publish a way to file a complaint too. The officer has to acknowledge a complaint within 24 hours and resolve it within 15 days.
What happens if my complaint is not resolved within 15 days?
You can appeal to the Grievance Appellate Committee within 30 days of the platform's response, or of the 15-day deadline passing. The appeal is filed online at gac.gov.in and costs nothing. The Committee aims to decide within 30 calendar days.
Does every Indian crypto exchange actually publish a named Grievance Officer?
Not consistently. Of four platforms checked on 27 August 2026, Giottus was the only one naming a Grievance Officer with contact details in its published terms. ZebPay names a Senior Compliance Manager. Unocoin and Bitbns publish only general support channels.
What is the difference between a Grievance Officer and a Nodal Officer?
A Grievance Officer handles user complaints about the platform's service. A Nodal Officer, where one is named separately, is the contact point for law enforcement and regulatory agencies.
Where do I find this information on a platform's site?
It is rarely a standalone page. Check the Terms of Use, Terms and Conditions, or Privacy Policy, and search each one for the word "grievance". If none of those documents name an officer, that absence is itself useful information about the platform.
Crypto investments are subject to market risk. Not financial advice.
“A better allocation begins with a better explanation.”
Qatobit principle
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