PhonePe To Charge Fee On Inactive Wallets: What Users Need to Know

Digital payment platform, PhonePe, has updated its wallet rules for inactive users, stating that if a wallet remains unused for too long, users may have to pay a fee. The update applies only to PhonePe Wallet accounts and may lead to a charge for wallets that remain unused for a long period, as defined in the policy.

PhonePe has clarified that a wallet is marked inactive if there are no financial transactions on it for 365 days. Once a wallet is classified as inactive, the platform may apply a quarterly maintenance fee of Rs 100 per wallet that includes goods and services tax (GST). According to the company, the charge is aimed at supporting platform updates, fixes and other operational improvements.

The company has also specified that routine activities, such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments, app logins, recharges, bill payments, loans, insurance transactions, or wallet know-your-customer (KYC) do not count as wallet usage for determining inactivity.

Users will receive multiple notifications over a 15-day period before any deduction is made, along with instructions to reactivate the wallet. If a wallet transaction is completed during this period, the account will be restored to active status and no fee will be charged.

If no action is taken during that time, the fee will be deducted from the available wallet balance after the end of this period. If the wallet balance is less than Rs 100, the entire remaining amount will be deducted, bringing the wallet balance down to nil.

The updated guidelines further states that wallet balance will never go into negative even if the available amount is lower than the applicable fee. Only the stored wallet balance will be used for deduction, and no additional charges will be recovered from bank accounts or UPI-linked payments.

While users have raised concerns about the need for charging a fee for a service they use rarely.

Other digital payment platforms have also introduced charges on inactive wallets. Airtel Payments Bank had earlier imposed such fees, while MobiKwik introduced similar charges on unused accounts in 2021.