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How to claim Flipkart SPF: the 14-day window, the evidence, and the two ways to file
Flipkart's Seller Protection Fund reimburses a return that comes back damaged, wrong, empty or not at all. The rules that decide a claim are few and specific, and they are in Flipkart's own FAQ: 14 days from receiving the return, 7 days to dispute a rejection, 120 days for a parcel that never arrived.
What SPF covers
A return the customer sent back that reaches you damaged or defective, as the wrong product, as an empty package, or that never reaches you at all. It does not cover a return that is simply unsaleable for a reason Flipkart's policy excludes; the exclusions are on the Seller Protection Programme policy page linked below, and they are worth reading once before the first claim.
The windows, from Flipkart's FAQ
| Event | Window | Clock starts |
|---|---|---|
| Claim for a damaged, defective or wrong return | 14 days | The day you receive the returned product |
| Dispute a rejected or short-paid claim ("unhappy claim") | 7 days | The date of Flipkart's decision |
| Claim for a return that never arrived ("Product Missing") | Within 120 days, and only after 60 days have passed | The date the return was created |
| Return marked "Do not expect physical delivery" | 60 days from the return date, within 120 days of the request | The return date |
| Flipkart's decision | 12 days | Claim submitted |
| Payment of an accepted claim | 3 to 4 days | Claim accepted |
Flipkart's return TAT, the time it allows a return to reach you, is 60 days from return approval, or 45 days during The Big Billion Days. A return that has not arrived after that is the missing-product case, not the damaged case.
The two ways to file
- From the Returns dashboard: in the completed section, the return has a Claim SPF button. This is the fast path and the one that keeps the claim tied to the return.
- From Seller Support: Seller Portal Help, then Contact Seller Support, then Payments, then SPF Related Queries, then I want to claim SPF; fill the form, upload the proofs, submit.
- For a return marked Do not expect physical delivery: the Seller Protection Fund page under Payments, Create New, the Do Not Expect Physical Delivery section, the order item id, Claim SPF.
What to attach
- Clear images of the product from all angles showing the damage.
- An image of the shipping label on the return parcel.
- A description of the nature and extent of the damage. Specific beats long: which part, what is wrong with it, whether it is the product you shipped.
- A pack-out video of the original dispatch is not required by the FAQ, but it is the evidence that ends the argument about whether the returned item is the one you sent.
Why claims are missed
Not because they are rejected, but because 14 days passes. A return that arrives on a Friday, is opened the following week and photographed the week after is already out of time. The window is from receipt, so the day the parcel is scanned in is the day the clock starts, and the claim should be filed from the same desk that opens the parcel.
ezmarketplaces records the return's receipt scan, drafts the claim text with the pack-out evidence attached, and orders the Recovery ledger by the claim deadline, so the 14-day case is at the top of the list on the day it arrives. Filing on Seller Hub is yours, because the claim is in your name.