Not Free? Google Pay Charges A FEE If You Make These UPI Payments In India

Google Pay is one of the popular apps used for making UPI payments in India. You can pay your friends or family and even buy items at a shop using the platform. But it seems Google Pay is now ready to start charging its users if they make some specific kind of payments.

Reports in the past few days suggest Google Pay is now charging a convenience fee which is applicable when you try to use the platform to pay for mobile recharges.

Google hasn’t officially shared any update about these charges but a quick glance at the social media suggests many Google Pay users are being made to pay the fee for their mobile recharges, which means there is an additional Re 1 to Rs 3 charge added to the recharge value. We independently checked if these charges are being presented to all users but it seems the changes are only being asked from select users.

In addition to this, Google Pay terms have been revised recently that talks about third-party fees which are only applicable on mobile recharges for now but won’t be limited to that mode in the coming months. Here’s what the new terms of payments and fees on Google Pay says:

Payment Participants or Third-Party Fees. You may incur access or data fees from the Payment Participants or Third Party Providers in connection with your use of Google Pay. You are responsible for all such fees.

Google Fees. Fees may be applied to certain Transactions or use of Google Pay Services which include but are not limited to mobile recharges. Prior to completing each Transaction, you will be notified of any fees, if applicable, that may apply. Fees may be determined by Google in its sole discretion and any fees charged will be inclusive of all applicable taxes.

Google Pay isn’t the first app to bring these charges, something that the likes of Paytm have been charging for for some time now. But these charges are surely going to become an issue for users, especially if they rely on UPI payments for major activities. People might be forced to reconsider their decision to use Google Pay or other UPI apps that charge these fees.

Having said that, UPI payments have become the go-mode for millions in the country, which means the strain on the system has to be compensated by higher investment in the technology that keeps the payment feature running.