Digital payment platform PhonePe has issued an important clarification to clear the confusion among customers regarding inactivity charges on its wallet. The company has clearly stated that this fee is applicable only on PhonePe Wallet and has no connection with users’ bank accounts or UPI transactions.
Recently, wallet related information was sent to some customers, after which many people felt that this fee may also be applicable on their bank account or UPI transactions. The company has completely rejected these apprehensions.
PhonePe Wallet and UPI are separate services
According to PhonePe, many customers consider PhonePe account, UPI account and PhonePe Wallet to be the same service, whereas in reality these three are different systems and different rules apply to them.
The company said that PhonePe Wallet is a prepaid payment instrument (PPI), in which the amount has to be deposited in advance. On the other hand, UPI payments are made directly from the customer’s bank account. Therefore, any charges on the wallet will not affect the UPI transaction or bank account.
Fee will not be deducted from bank account
PhonePe clarified that if a user does not have sufficient balance in his wallet, the inactivity fee will not be charged to his bank account or through UPI. This fee will be limited only to the amount available in the wallet.
The company says that many customers regularly make payments through UPI, but if they do not use the PhonePe Wallet for a long time then the wallet may be considered inactive. UPI and wallet activities are recorded separately.
Information is sent 15 days in advance
According to PhonePe, before deducting inactivity fee from a wallet, the user is informed 15 days in advance. During this time the customer can reactivate the wallet, add money to it, withdraw the balance or even close the wallet.
Wallet can be activated even without KYC
The company also said that it is not necessary to do full KYC to reactivate the inactive wallet. Normally it can be reactivated by doing OTP verification and a transaction through the wallet.
Apart from this, PhonePe has also clarified the situation regarding cashback. According to the company, most of the cashback amount is not deposited in the wallet but in the separate gift card balance. Therefore, receiving cashback does not mean that the wallet is active or that inactivity charges will be applicable on that amount.
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