An important update has come out for crores of users using the digital payment platform PhonePe. If your PhonePe wallet is not being used for a long time, then now you may have to pay extra fees for it. The company has made changes in its wallet policy and clarified that maintenance fees will be imposed on wallets that remain inactive for a certain period. After this decision, debate has also started on social media, because a large number of users use PhonePe only for UPI payments, while not using the wallet feature.
Charges will be levied if not used for 365 days
According to the new guideline, if there is no transaction from a PhonePe wallet for 365 consecutive days, it will be considered inactive. In such cases the company may charge maintenance fees on the wallet. It is worth noting that merely opening the PhonePe app or making payment from a bank account through UPI will not be considered as wallet activity. To keep the wallet active, it will be necessary to do any transaction from the wallet.
₹100 can be deducted every three months
As per company rules, a maintenance fee of up to ₹100 may be levied on inactive wallets. However, 15 days’ notice will be given to the user before deducting the fee. If there is ₹100 or more in the wallet then the full fee will be deducted. Whereas if the balance is less than ₹100 then only the available amount will be deducted and the wallet balance will become zero. The company will not carry the wallet in negative balance.
How to avoid charge?
Users can use their PhonePe wallet from time to time to avoid this charge. Any type of wallet transaction, like adding money, making payment or transacting from the wallet, will keep the wallet active.
PhonePe is not the first platform
This is not the first case of imposing charges on inactive wallets in the digital payments industry. Earlier, MobiKwik and Airtel Payments Bank have also implemented such a system. Airtel Payments Bank had earlier imposed a maintenance charge on inactive wallets and later changed it to an annual maintenance charge (AMC) model. At the same time, MobiKwik had also started the system of charging fees on wallets which are not used for a long time.
Also read- Money deducted if transaction fails from Paytm, GPay, PhonePe, BHIM UPI? Know how to get it back
