PhonePe has now announced that it will be charging a transaction fee on mobile recharges done via its app. This will make PhonePe the very first digital payment application in India to do so. None of the other applications charge any fee, at least for now.
The company has revealed that it will be charging the transaction fee as a part of a small scale experiment. PhonePe will be charging Re. 1 to Rs. 2 for each mobile recharge done via the app. In addition, this particular fee will also be charged on UPI transactions.
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A PhonePe Spokesperson has told PTI that, “On recharges, we are running a very small-scale experiment where a few users are paying for mobile recharges. Recharges below ₹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.“
PhonePe Mobile Recharge Fee: What Else?
On transactions of up to Rs. 50, PhonePe will not be charging any fee. However, on transactions of Rs. 50 to Rs. 100, the company will be charging Re. 1. Lastly, on transactions of above Rs. 101, an extra Rs. 2 will be charged. Other players in the market do charge a fee on payments made via credit cards. However, this will be the first time that a digital payments app will charge a fee for mobile recharges.
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The company has now received a lot of criticism for this move. In response to all the criticism, PhonePe stated that, “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 as convenience fee on other platforms) on payments with credit cards only.“
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