Business

PhonePe starts charging processing fees on phone recharges above Rs 50

Walmart-owned digital payments app PhonePe has started charging processing fees of Re 1 to Rs 2 on phone recharges over Rs 50. This means that you will no longer be able to transfer money or recharge your phone without shelling out a little extra money for every transaction. PhonePe is the first digital payments app to have started charging for UPI-based transactions which are being offered for free by its competitors.

“On recharges, we are running a very small-scale experiment where a few users are paying for mobile recharges. Recharges below Rs 50 are not charged, recharges between Rs 50 and Rs 100 are charged Re 1, and above Rs 100 are charged Rs 2. Essentially, as a part of the experiment, a majority of users are either not paying anything or paying Re 1,” a PhonePe spokesperson told a news agency.

To clarify on bill payments, “We are not the only player or payment platform charging a fee. Charging a small fee on bill payments is now a standard industry practice and is done by other biller websites and payment platforms also. We charge a processing fee (called a convenience fee on other platforms) on payments with credit cards only,” the spokesperson added.

According to the report, PhonePe has the largest share in terms of UPI transactions among the third-party apps. The company has recorded over 165-crore UPI transactions on its platform in September, clocking over 40 percent share among the app segment.

For the unversed, just like Paytm and Google Pay, PhonePe can be used to transfer money with BHIM UPI, manage multiple bank accounts, check account balance, save beneficiaries across multiple bank accounts like SBI, HDFC, ICICI & 140+ banks. Recharge prepaid mobile numbers like Jio, Vodafone, Idea, Airtel, etc, recharge DTH like Tata Sky, Airtel Direct, Sun Direct, Videocon, etc, pay various bills and more.

Back to top button