RuPay credit card on UPI: what it costs you, and what the new 0.4% changes
Quick answer. Kotak, for one, says in its own FAQ that you will not be charged for paying with its RuPay credit card on UPI. The new UPI charge is paid by shops, not by you, and the government's release says customers will not pay it. Shops already pay a bigger fee when you pay by credit card on UPI: Canara Bank's notice to its merchants lists 0.50% to 1.75% on payments above ₹2,000. That gap may be why some shops push back on credit cards. Whether your UPI spends earn rewards depends on the card, and the table below sets out five banks' rules.
Beni's own card data covers 23 Indian cards, last checked between 2026-07-21 and 2026-08-16, and only two of them are RuPay cards. So this page is built from the banks' and the government's own documents, and we suggest reading it as their rules, quoted.
Do I pay extra to use a RuPay credit card on UPI?
Kotak's FAQ answers it directly: "No, you will not be charged for linking or carrying out any transaction from the linked Kotak RuPay Credit Card on UPI."
Not being charged for UPI likely does not make the card free, though. Axis Bank's terms say the card's normal charges carry over:
"Any fee, finance charges, surcharges or mark-ups applicable on Credit Card transactions will be applicable on CC on UPI transactions too"
Axis also charges 1% on rent paid this way. HDFC's UPI RuPay Credit Card has a joining fee of ₹99 plus taxes and an annual fee of ₹99 plus taxes.
Do this: check your card's own fees and surcharges before you move big payments to UPI — the UPI route may not remove them.
What does the new 0.4% UPI charge mean for me?
For UPI payments to shops above ₹2,000, the government says a 0.4% charge will apply, paid by the shop. For payments of ₹75,000 and above, it stops at ₹300. Railways, telecom, insurance, fuel and farm inputs pay a flat ₹5 instead.
Sending money to people stays free at any amount. So do small shops receiving up to ₹1 lakh a month through UPI QR codes.
"It is not a charge on customers making UPI payments."
The release says banks have been told to stop shops passing it on. It also says the charge is not a tax. The charge starts on 15 October 2026, according to The Hindu's report of NPCI's circular.
We could not find any mention of credit cards in the government's release, so it does not say whether it changes the separate fee described next.
Do this: if a shop asks you for extra on a UPI payment, it may be worth pointing out that the government has told banks this charge is not for customers.
Why might a shop not want my credit card on UPI?
Canara Bank's notice to its merchants says a fee has applied to RuPay credit card payments on UPI above ₹2,000 since 1 June 2026. The rate depends on the kind of shop. Its table runs from 0.50% for one category to 1.75% for anything not listed, with 18% GST on top, taken from the shop's settlement. Canara calls its rates indicative. The network's own circular does not appear to be public, so other banks' rates may differ.
Here is what that means for the shop:
On a ₹10,000 purchase, a shop will pay ₹40 on ordinary UPI from 15 October, but pays ₹50 to ₹175 on credit-card UPI at Canara's rates, before GST. On ₹1,00,000, it will be ₹300 on ordinary UPI, against ₹500 to ₹1,750 on credit-card UPI, plus up to ₹315 of GST. At the top of Canara's table, that is more than four times the ordinary UPI fee on the smaller purchase.
A shop with thin margins may therefore prefer you to pay from your bank account, and some may add a charge.
Do this: for payments above ₹2,000, ask before you pay whether the shop accepts credit cards on UPI, and have a bank-account UPI app ready as the fallback.
Do UPI payments on a credit card still earn rewards?
Five banks publish a rule for their RuPay credit cards on UPI, in the documents read for this page. Every bank name below links to the document the rule comes from.
| Bank | What you pay to use it on UPI | Rewards on UPI spends |
|---|---|---|
| Axis Bank | No separate UPI fee stated; the card's usual fees and surcharges apply, plus a 1% rent surcharge | Not stated in its UPI terms |
| HDFC Bank | ₹99 joining fee and ₹99 annual fee plus taxes on the UPI RuPay Credit Card | RuPay PIXEL and Tata Neu Plus/Infinity: UPI purchases earn at most 500 points a month |
| IDFC FIRST Bank | FIRST Digital RuPay Credit Card: ₹199 joining fee and ₹199 annual fee from the second year, plus GST | 3X points on UPI payments above ₹2,000, 1X below; UPI is outside the 10X programme |
| Kotak Mahindra Bank | None for linking the card or paying with it on UPI | UPI spends earn points, except the card's excluded categories |
| SBI Card | Not stated in its UPI terms | Same reward programme as the card itself |
SBI Card: "Reward points accrual for transactions using Credit Card on UPI will be as per the Reward Point program defined by SBI Card for the particular card being used."
Kotak: UPI spends earn reward points, except the card's excluded categories.
HDFC caps UPI rewards at 500 points a month on at least two cards. For RuPay PIXEL: "Credit Card purchases done via UPI mode for RuPay Pixel Credit Card will earn reward points up to a maximum of 500 points in a calendar month." Its terms for the Tata Neu Plus and Infinity cards say the same: "Card purchases done via UPI mode will earn reward points upto a maximum of 500 points in a calendar month."
IDFC FIRST pays 3X points on UPI payments above ₹2,000 and 1X below, on the named cards in its guide. It keeps UPI out of its bigger programme: "All UPI transactions will not be a part of 10X reward program." Its FIRST Digital RuPay Credit Card carries a ₹199 joining fee and ₹199 a year from the second year, plus GST, except when issued with FIRST WOW! Black or Gaj.
Do this: before you link a card to UPI, look up that card's own reward rule, not the bank's general one — the cap or multiplier may sit at card level.
Which card should I link to UPI?
Our advice is to link the card whose UPI spends earn at its normal rate with no low monthly cap, and to keep payments to shops that charge extra on another route.
If you hold several cards, remembering which one earns most where may be the annoying part. Beni asks which cards you own, by name, never card numbers. Beni can tell you which of your own cards earns most on a purchase before you make it. Its data covers only two RuPay cards so far, so for UPI specifically the bank's own rule is the better guide.
Do this: if two of your cards are RuPay, compare their UPI reward rules in the table before choosing which one to link.
Frequently asked
Is a RuPay credit card on UPI charged below ₹2,000? Not by Canara Bank's notice, which applies its fee to amounts exceeding ₹2,000. Below that, the shop's fee is likely lower or nil, but other banks' rules may differ.
Can I send money to a friend from a credit card on UPI? SBI Card's terms say its UPI credit-card facility is only for payments to shops.
Can I pay rent or my card bill this way? Axis Bank's terms add a 1% surcharge for rent paid by credit card on UPI. SBI Card lists credit card bill payment among the categories its credit card on UPI cannot be used for.
Do I still get the fuel surcharge refund on UPI? SBI Card's terms say the refund follows the card's own rules, and BPCL SBI Card and BPCL SBI Card OCTANE do not get it on UPI.
Is the new UPI charge a tax? No — the government's release says it is neither a tax nor a charge it collects.
For more on choosing between the cards you hold, see which credit card to use. If rewards on a UPI payment never arrived, why your cashback wasn't credited may help.
Rules here are each bank's and the government's published words, read on 2026-09-16, and may change with notice — treat them as estimates of what applies to your card until your statement confirms it. Full method: how these guides are made.
No affiliate links — Beni earns nothing whichever card you use. Beni is not a bank, takes no payment, and never asks for card numbers.