"Auto-renewal" sounds like a card being charged while you sleep. At Domain India it does not work that way. Renewal here is an invoice: we bill you before the service is due, and it renews the moment that invoice is paid. Nothing is ever taken from your card on its own.
Domain India does not auto-charge. The Domain renewal switch in your client area only controls whether we send you a renewal invoice before your domain expires — the domain renews when you pay that invoice. Keep the switch on, pay before the due date, and nothing is interrupted. Switch it off and you are not billed, and the service expires unless you renew it by hand.
1. What "auto-renewal" means at Domain India
Our terms are explicit: "We do not perform auto-renewals by default. Clients must manually renew domains and services via the client area." Advance payment is mandatory, so nothing is extended on credit. Read the renewal switch as a billing switch, not a payment instruction.
| What people expect | What happens at Domain India |
|---|---|
| A saved card is charged before expiry | No card is charged. You receive an invoice and pay it yourself |
| The service renews by itself | It renews when the renewal invoice is paid |
| Turning auto-renewal off cancels the service | It stops the invoice. The service stays active until its expiry date. |
| You must cancel in time to avoid a charge | There is no charge to avoid; an unpaid invoice simply lapses |
2. Where to switch renewal invoices on or off
For a domain, the switch sits on the domain's own page.
- Open the domain.In the client area go to Services, then Domains, and click the domain.
- Find the "Domain renewal" panel.A green switch means renewal invoices are on; an amber panel means they are off.
- Click the switch and confirm.The box names the date the domain would expire if you leave renewal off, and the panel then states the new position in plain words.
For hosting, and for a second view of every domain, use the Renewals page in the client area. It lists each service with its expiry date, price and renewal position, and gives you a Don't renew action per service, plus a Turn renewal back on button for anything switched off.
3. When the renewal invoice arrives
Renewal invoices are raised before the due date — on Domain India today, up to 30 days ahead of it — and appear under Invoices in the client area. For what the different invoice documents mean, see Understanding your invoice.
For a domain, the invoice's due date is the domain's own renewal date, so "pay by the due date" and "pay before it expires" mean the same thing. We also email reminders in the weeks before expiry, and the invoice sits under Invoices whether or not the email reaches you.
Keep the email address on your account current, check the spam folder in a renewal month, and put the expiry date in your own calendar too.
4. How to pay a renewal invoice
- Open Invoices in the client area, or click the link in the renewal email.
- Check the service name, the period and the amount on the unpaid invoice.
- Click Pay Now and choose one of the methods offered on the payment page. Once payment is confirmed, the next due date moves forward automatically.
Paying early costs nothing: the new period is added to the existing expiry date. A renewal price is not always the first-year price — a promotional registration rate applies to the first term only, and the invoice shows the current renewal rate.
5. What happens if you do not pay
| Service | If the renewal invoice goes unpaid |
|---|---|
| Domain | It expires on its expiry date, and the website and email on it stop resolving. A .in can still be renewed at the normal price up to day 36 after expiry; from day 37 it can only be restored, for ₹4,000 including the renewal. A .com can be restored after its grace period for ₹8,000 including one year. If it is not restored in time, the registry deletes it and anyone can register it |
| Hosting | The account is suspended a week after the due date, so the site and mailboxes go offline, and can be deleted about a fortnight later; paying before deletion restores it |
No late charge is applied by default. The consequence of not paying is simply that the service stops.
6. Why letting a domain expire is the expensive mistake
Hosting can be rebuilt. A domain cannot always be bought back. Our terms put it bluntly: expired domains risk permanent deletion and non-recovery. Once a name is released, anyone may register it, including a competitor or a squatter, and every email address on it stops working at the same moment.
Recovery after expiry, where the registry allows it at all, costs far more than an ordinary renewal: ₹4,000 to restore a .in from day 37 after expiry, and ₹8,000 to restore a .com after its grace period, against a .in renewal of ₹625 a year (Domain India list prices on 19 September 2026, excluding 18% GST). So keep renewal invoices on for every domain you mean to keep, and renew for several years at once where you can. For renewal prices and restoration in detail, read Domain renewal.
7. How to stop a service renewing, on purpose
You are allowed to walk away. The terms say you may decline a renewal at any time before payment, without penalty, either by letting the service expire or by raising a support ticket. There are three clean ways to do it:
- Switch renewal invoices off on the domain's page. You will not be invoiced for it again.
- Use Don't renew on the Renewals page, for hosting or a domain. You tick an acknowledgement, type the service name to confirm, and the pending renewal invoice is cancelled. A confirmation email follows, with a one-click link to turn renewal back on.
- Open a ticket at /support/ticket and ask us to stop billing a service and cancel its open invoice.
Expiry reminders keep coming after you decline: switching renewal off stops the bill, not the warnings. The service works normally up to its expiry date, and turning renewal back on before then restores the cancelled invoice at the normal price. Reversing an expiry afterwards may be impossible, so if you are unsure about a domain, keep renewal on for one more year.
8. Refunds
A domain renewal is paid forward to the registry, which is why our refund policy treats domain registration as non-refundable in any case once registered. Pay the invoice and the year is bought; it cannot be handed back.
That is the practical argument for the invoice model: because we never charge your card on its own, there is no accidental renewal to undo and no refund to chase. If you no longer want a service, you simply do not pay for it. If you paid by mistake, open a ticket in the Billing department at once. Orders never registered are covered in How to cancel a domain name order.
Does Domain India charge my card automatically when a service is due?
No. Domain India does not perform auto-renewals by default. We send a renewal invoice before the due date, and the service renews only after you pay it.
What does the "Domain renewal" switch actually do?
It controls whether we send you a renewal invoice before the domain expires. On means you are invoiced in time to renew; off means you are not invoiced, and the domain expires unless you renew it manually.
When is the renewal invoice sent, and can I undo switching renewal off?
Before the due date — currently up to 30 days ahead of it on Domain India — emailed to the address on your account and listed under Invoices. If you switched renewal off by mistake, turn it back on from the domain's page or the Renewals page before expiry, and the cancelled invoice is re-opened.
What happens to my website and email if I do not renew?
A domain stops resolving at its expiry date, taking the website and any email on it offline. Hosting is suspended about a week after an unpaid due date and can be deleted a fortnight after that.
How much does it cost to recover an expired domain?
A .in can be renewed at the normal price up to day 36 after expiry; from day 37 it can only be restored, for ₹4,000 including the renewal. A .com costs ₹8,000 to restore after its grace period, including one year. These prices exclude 18% GST.
Can I get a refund if I renewed a domain I did not want?
No. Domain registration is non-refundable once registered at the registry, and a renewal is bought the same way. If you do not want to keep a domain, switch renewal invoices off instead of paying and asking later.
How do I stop being billed for hosting I no longer use?
Open the Renewals page, choose "Don't renew" for that service and confirm, or open a support ticket and ask us to stop the renewal. It stays active until its expiry date and then stops.
Ready to check yours? Open the Renewals page and confirm that every domain you mean to keep has renewal invoices on. For the short version, read How auto-renewal works; for renewal prices and recovery after expiry, Domain renewal; for anything unclear on an invoice, open a ticket.
Send us your domain or hosting name and we will tell you when it is due, what it costs and whether a renewal invoice is already waiting for you.
Ask our billing team