Using a credit card to pay your utility bills could lose its appeal in the near future. Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank have announced a new 1 percent fee on all credit card utility bill payments, starting from May 1st. For instance, if your monthly electricity bill amounts to 21,500 rupees and you opt to pay it with a Yes Bank or IDFC First credit card, you’ll incur an extra charge of 215 rupees on top of the bill.
Yet, customers will benefit from a free usage limit of ₹15,000 for Yes Bank and ₹20,000 for IDFC First Bank. This implies that if a Yes Bank credit card holder settles a utility bill below ₹15,000 within a statement cycle, no additional fees will be incurred.
However, if you end up paying over Rs15,000 limit in utility bill payments within a statement cycle will result in an additional 1 percent fee along with 18 percent GST. The identical regulations apply to IDFC First Bank credit cards, with a free usage limit of ₹20,000 instead of ₹15,000.