PhonePe will now collect processing fees for each transaction. This means you will no longer be able to transfer money or recharge your phone without paying a small fee for each transaction. The company has said that it would levy fees ranging from Rs 1 to Rs 2 per transaction for mobile recharges worth more than Rs 50. PhonePe was the first payment app to begin charging for transactions.
“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 said.
PhonePe, along with Paytm and Google Pay, is one of the most popular and widely used payment apps in India. In September, it logged over 165 crore UPI transactions on its platform, accounting for more over 40% of the app segment.
“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.