Google Pay, an online payment app used widely by Indian users, has begun charging consumers an additional fee for prepaid recharge purchases, following in the footsteps of PhonePe and Paytm.
The app has more than 60 million active users, making it the second-most popular payment app in India. The program, sometimes referred to as GPay, is most well-known for its P2M and P2P UPI transactions.
Previously, consumers just had to pay the amount the telecom operator charged for the service, which made the service completely free. It appears that Google is now looking into methods to make money from India’s multibillion-dollar digital payments industry.
According to recent reports, users who recharge their mobile prepaid plans via Google Pay, also known as GPay, may soon be subject to convenience costs of up to 3 rupees. With Google joining this bandwagon, it seems that the only way to stay away from convenience costs is to buy recharge plans through the operator’s website.
Currently, Google Pay only imposes these costs on mobile recharges; but other transactions, including paying utility bills, are still free. There are no additional fees for UPI transactions on Google Pay, both for commercial and personal use.
Google has not yet made the new convenience charge adjustment official. However, on November 10, 2023, Google secretly altered its Terms of Service for India.
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(Via)
