Paytm had earlier reaffirmed in a tweet in 2019 that it will not charge customers any convenience or transaction fees when they use the digital payment platform to make payments.
New Delhi, NFAPost: Fintech behemoth Paytm has recently started charging customers a convenience fee on mobile recharges. The payments platform is charging users anywhere between Rs. 1-6 depending on the recharge value, according to a Gadgets 360 report. The fee is charged on recharges of Rs. 100 or more that are made via online means such as UPI, credit card, or debit card.
This convenience fee first appeared in early March for a restricted group of customers, but it is not applicable to all consumers. We were unable to independently verify these charges, given the lack of clarity from Paytm on the issue.
Paytm had earlier reaffirmed in a tweet in 2019 that it will not charge customers any convenience or transaction fees when they use the digital payment platform to make payments.
“Paytm neither charges nor will charge any convenience or transaction fee from customers on using any payment method which includes Cards, UPI and Wallet,” the company had said on Twitter, linking to a blog article that was no longer active at the time of writing.
After PhonePe, Paytm has become the second mobile recharge platform to charge its subscribers. PhonePe announced in October of last year that it will begin charging consumers a “processing fee” on mobile prepaid recharges of Rs 50 or more.
The Flipkart-owned digital payments company claimed it was a “small-scale experience,” but some customers said they saw the price every time they recharged, prompting them to denounce PhonePe.
For years, digital payment platforms have provided customers with free mobile recharge services in which all they have to pay is the actual value of the rate. Adding funds to a wallet via a credit card has so far been subject to the convenience charge. This fee is known as the Merchant Discount Rate, or MDR, and it is usually set at 2%.
Customers may migrate to alternative applications such as Google Pay, Freecharge, Amazon Pay, and MobiKwik as a result of PhonePe and Paytm’s recent adjustments. Customers can also consider mobile recharge services offered by practically every bank through its app.
(Agencies)
