This is usually caused by duplicates in the query specified in USING clause. This probably means that TABLE_A is a parent table and the same ROWID is returned several times.
You could quickly solve the problem by using a DISTINCT in your query (in fact, if ‘Y’ is a constant value you don’t even need to put it in the query).
Assuming your query is correct (don’t know your tables) you could do something like this:
MERGE INTO table_1 a
USING
(SELECT distinct ta.ROWID row_id
FROM table_1 a ,table_2 b ,table_3 c
WHERE a.mbr = c.mbr
AND b.head = c.head
AND b.type_of_action <> ‘6’) src
ON ( a.ROWID = src.row_id )
WHEN MATCHED THEN UPDATE SET in_correct = ‘Y’;
You’re probably trying to to update the same row of the target table multiple times. I just encountered the very same problem in a merge statement I developed. Make sure your update does not touch the same record more than once in the execution of the merge.