Paytm has reportedly begun charging some of its users a small fee for mobile recharges done via the financial platform. This charge can be anywhere between Re 1 and Rs 6, depending on how large the recharge amount is. The fee is being levied on mobile recharges paid for via UPI or a bank credit/debit card.
The fee is, as of writing this story, not applicable to all users, but like most changes that roll out gradually, we could see it coming to more Paytm users over the next few days. A report by Gadgets360 suggests that users began spotting the additional fee first in early March when they noticed the platform charging users with a small convenience fee on transactions of Rs 100 and above.
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Back in 2019, Paytm had promised users that it wouldn’t charge any convenience or transaction fee to its users, via any mode of payment whatsoever. However, it seems strategies at Paytm are changing in a bid to generate more revenue.
Paytm rival PhonePe also started charging users with a ‘processing fee’ on mobile recharges above Rs 50 back in October last year. What the company called a “small-scale experience,” however, turned out to affect hundreds of users who took to social media to report the additional charge.
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Neither platform has yet revealed how it is determined if a user must or must not pay extra convenience or processing fees.
Meanwhile, customers who are looking to dodge the extra fees are switching recharge tasks to other payment platforms like Google Pay and Amazon Pay, which are not charging users any extra fees yet. Major telecom players in India Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea also have their own apps available for both Android and iOS which allow in-app recharging via UPI and other modes of payment.
