Starting at 10:00 (UTC+8) on August 19, 2025, Alibaba Cloud will begin a phased rollout of an updated refund policy for Public Cloud Resource Plans. After the update, refunds for canceled Resource Plans will be calculated based on the new policy.
Key updates
If you used a Coupon when purchasing a Resource Plan, the refund will be issued proportionally as cash and a returned Coupon, based on your original payment structure.
The refund policy for Resource Plans canceled on the Resource Unsubscription page in the Expenses and Costs Console is updated as follows:
If you purchase a Resource Plan scheduled to start at a future date, you can receive a full refund if you cancel it before the effective date.
If you have not used the Resource Plan, you can receive a full refund within 30 days of purchase.
NoteStarting at 10:00 (UTC+8) on January 1, 2026, this policy will be updated in phases to the following: For any Resource Plan that supports self-service refunds, you can receive a full refund at any time during its validity period, provided the plan has never been used.
Refund Amount = Refundable value of the original order - Consumed amount. The Consumed amount is recalculated based on the discount tier that corresponds to your actual usage amount or duration. If the recalculated Consumed amount is greater than or equal to the original paid amount, the refund amount is zero.
For usage-based resource plans: Consumed amount = List price × Used amount × Discount applicable to the used amount
For subscription-based resource plans: Consumed amount = Price per period × Number of used periods × Discount applicable to the used duration. The number of used periods includes the current period at the time of cancellation. The cancellation takes effect in the next period, and the remaining balance is refunded.
You can view the detailed refund calculation breakdown and payment breakdown (e.g., cash and Coupons) in your order details.
Example
Scenario
A customer purchases a Data Transfer Plan (DTP):
Pricing: The plan is valid for one year. The list price is USD 1/GB. A 20% discount applies to a 500 GB purchase, and a 10% discount applies to a 100 GB purchase. No discount is offered for purchases under 100 GB.
The customer purchases 500 GB, applies a USD 100 Coupon, and pays USD 300 in cash. (Cash payment calculation: (USD 1/GB × 500 GB × 0.8) - USD 100).
The customer requests a refund after using 150 GB.
Refund calculation
Refund Amount = Refundable value of the original order - Consumed amount = (USD 1/GB × 500 GB × 0.8) - (USD 1/GB × 150 GB × 0.9) = USD 265.
The cash portion of the refund is USD 265 × (300 / 400) = USD 198.75, and the Coupon portion is USD 265 × (100 / 400) = USD 66.25. If the original Coupon has expired by the time of the refund, the returned Coupon will be unusable.
The original refundable value of USD 400 consisted of USD 300 in cash and a USD 100 Coupon. Therefore, the refund is issued in the same proportion.
The 0.9 multiplier in the consumed amount calculation represents the discount applicable to the used amount. The pricing offers a 10% discount for 100 GB and a 20% discount for 500 GB. Because the customer used 150 GB, which does not meet the minimum threshold for the 20% discount, the 10% discount is applied.
Refunds processed before this phased rollout are not eligible for Coupon returns or detailed calculation breakdowns.
As this update is a phased rollout, the new policy may not be active on your account yet. This is the case if your refund interface lacks a detailed breakdown or if its calculation logic differs from this notice. To request the update sooner, you can submit a ticket to customer service for an early upgrade.
Related information: