Biodegradation of caffeine by Trichosporon asahii in freely suspended and immobilized state has been investigated under batch conditions in media containing varying concentration of sucrose and caffeine. The yeast species T. asahii is immobilized in single and hybrid matrices such as Na-alginate, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-alginate and glycerol-alginate. Degradation of caffeine and growth of T. asahii are found to be optimum when 8 g/L sucrose and 10 g/L caffeine are present in the medium. PVA-alginate immobilized cells show the maximum caffeine degradation compared to free and other immobilized cells. Bead diameter shows profound effect on biodegradation rate, diffusivity, effectiveness factor and Thiele modulus. In column mode, 98.9{\%} caffeine degradation in effluent is obtained at optimized flow rate of 1 mL/min and bed height of 12 cm using PVA-alginate immobilized T. asahii cells. Successful attempt on caffeine removal from wastewater has also been made using the same hybrid beads.