Google Pay introduces convenience fee for bill payments with credit, debit cards: Report

This refers to bills such as electricity and cooking gas with the fees ranging from 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent of the transaction value, along with GST.

Published on: Feb 20, 2025, 16:47:00 IST

By HT News Desk | Edited by Abhyjith K. Ashokan

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Google Pay, one of India's leading Unified Interface Payments (UPI) platforms has now introduced a convenience fee for bill payments made with credit and debit cards, according to an Economic Times report.

UPI is an instant payment system developed by the NPCI. (Representative)

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This refers to bills such as electricity and cooking gas and the fees ranges from 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent of the transaction value, along with the applicable goods and services tax (GST).

This comes after Google Pay earlier made the decision to introduce a ₹3 convenience fee for mobile recharges more than a year back.

The move represents the slow shift to monetizing UPI transactions which have been free for a long time.

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Google Pay is currently India's second largest UPI payments service in terms of both volume and value, with the largest being PhonePe, according to data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

They are followed by Paytm, Navi and Cred respectively.

Users made 6.184 billion transactions using Google Pay with a combined value of ₹8.27 lakh crore, according to the NPCI.

The monetization push is to offset costs involved in processing such transactions and comes at a time when UPI adoption has grown significantly.

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The report cited a PwC analysis as saying that such payment providers incur costs of nearly 0.25 per cent of the transaction value for processing UPI person-to-merchant transactions.

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HT News Desk
Follow the latest breaking news, major developments and agenda-setting stories from India and around the world with the newsdesk at Hindustan Times. Operating round the clock, the desk brings together experienced editors, reporters and correspondents to deliver fast, accurate and contextual reporting across subjects that influence public policy, governance, business, society and international affairs. The HT News Desk covers politics, elections, government policies, the economy, business and markets, science and technology, the environment, law and order, infrastructure, education, climate issues and geopolitics, while closely tracking developments across states, institutions and global capitals. The team also leads coverage of major breaking news events, policy announcements, court proceedings, natural disasters, public emergencies and significant international developments. Reports published by the newsdesk are based on information gathered from reporters on the ground, official statements, government agencies, court records, regulatory filings, recognised institutions and other authoritative sources. Stories undergo editorial scrutiny and verification processes to ensure accuracy, fairness and relevance, and are updated as events evolve and additional information becomes available. Whether covering a key political decision in New Delhi, an economic policy shift affecting millions, a landmark court ruling or a major global event, the HT News Desk aims to provide readers with reliable, fact-based journalism that delivers not only the latest developments but also the context and analysis needed to understand their wider implications.Read More

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