Paytm to Remain Free For Users

As a reaction to a media report that indicated that digital payments users in India might be getting billed for using Paytm transactions, the digital payments major -Paytm has issued a clarification saying that Paytm App or the Payment Gateway owned by One97 Communications does not charge or levy any convenience or transaction fee from its customers for using payment methods including cards, UPI, net-banking and wallet.

This comes after an Economic Times report stated that from July 1, Paytm will collect a fee from users, which according to it, is merely a reimbursement of what it has paid the banks or other card issuing companies. The report added that this move was for the company to cut burn rate and go the profitability route.

The report stated that any payments you route through Paytm using your credit and debit cards will attract a fee of 1% and 0.9% respectively, while transferring money via the net-banking facility and UPI interface will lead to a deduction of a transaction fee which can vary between Rs 10-12 per transaction. These charges will be applicable across all kinds of transactions, whether you are adding money to your wallet, settling a utility bill or even booking movie tickets.

However, Paytm has clarified that no such charges will be levied by the company. “Paytm customers can continue using all services available on our platform without any fee (same as before),” it added.

However, the company further clarified that there are some merchants such as educational institutes or utility service providers who do not absorb credit card charges and expect customers to pay the same. In order to avoid paying those, Paytm has asked users to pay through their debit cards and UPIW. “We would like to reiterate that these charges aren’t levied by Paytm in any scenario,” Paytm reiterated.

However, a Financial Express report says that a few customers complained on Twitter that they were being charged convenience fee and charges were being levied while adding money.

While Paytm said these charges aren't levied by Paytm in any scenario, the Economic Times report further states that Paytm is simply passing on what is called the merchant discount rates (MDRs) that the banks and the card issuing companies charge, for handling the transactions.