Paytm Starts Charging A Convenience Fee For Prepaid Mobile Recharges | Digit

Paytm has started charging a convenience fee on mobile recharge from users. As reported by Gadgets360, Paytm is asking for fees anywhere between ₹1 to ₹6 from users, depending on the recharge values. The fee is applicable to values worth ₹100 or higher and on the recharges paid through UPI, credit, and debit cards. 

The convenience fee began showing up for select users in early March, but it is not applicable to all users. A fun fact to note is, back in 2019 Paytm tweeted about not charging any convenience fees from its users. “Paytm neither charges nor will charge any convenience or transaction fee from customers on using any payment method which includes Cards, UPI and Wallet,” it wrote on Twitter.

Important: Paytm neither charges nor will charge any convenience or transaction fee from customers on using any payment method which includes Cards, UPI and Wallet. Read our blog for more. 

https://t.co/rfPp21MAx1

— Paytm (@Paytm) July 1, 2019

Paytm Convenience Fees for Mobile Recharges

After this announcement Paytm has become the second company to do so. Last year in October, PhonePe announced that it would start charging its users with a “processing fee” on mobile prepaid recharges of ₹50 or above. According to the Flipkart-owned digital platform, this was a “small scale experience” but several users weren’t very happy with this. 

For years, digital payment platforms have provided the service for mobile recharges for free, where all they had to pay was the exact tariff. The convenience charge to date was levied on adding funds to a wallet from a credit card. This charge is called MDR or Merchant Discount which is normally capped at 2%. 

But with the changes made by PhonePe and Paytm, which could be aimed at increasing revenue. Customers might switch to other apps such as GooglePay, Amazon Pay, Freecharge, MobiKwik. Also, every bank offers mobile recharge services through its app and customers can use them as well.