PhonePe, a well-known UPI app, just rolled out a new policy that’s turning heads—especially among people who used to use their wallet service but drifted away. Now, if you don’t use your PhonePe Wallet for a whole year, the company plans to charge you an inactivity maintenance fee of Rs 100.
People are already talking about it, and not everyone’s happy—most complaints come from users who stick to UPI payments straight from their bank accounts and barely touch the wallet feature at all.
What is the new inactivity fee?
If you go 365 days without any financial activity in your PhonePe Wallet, the account turns"inactive". ” After that, PhonePe can deduct Rs 100 from your wallet balance as a maintenance charge. But here’s the catch: just opening the app or making regular UPI payments doesn’t count. The fee applies only if there’s zero wallet-specific activity.
How can you avoid the fee?
By doing least one wallet transaction yearly could save you. Anything could be counted, like:
- Paying through the PhonePe Wallet balance
- Adding money to the wallet
- Using wallet funds for purchases or bill payments
Any wallet transaction will reset the inactivity period and keep the wallet active.
PhonePe will send a warning first
PhonePe says they will give you a 15-day heads-up before charging the fee. If your wallet holds more than Rs 100, they will take the full amount. If it’s less, they will just zero out the balance. You will never owe them money or have negative balances.
Why are some users upset?
Plenty of users are not thrilled about this. Critics say they are getting charged for a service they do not use and question why dormant wallets need a fee in the first place.
PhonePe is not alone
PhonePe is not doing anything brand new, and platforms like MobiKwik and Airtel Payments Bank have introduced similar policies. Airtel eventually switched to an Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC), spread out over the year.
If you are using digital wallets, keep an eye on their policies and make sure you stay active. Otherwise, you might find some surprise deductions in your account.