Is it legal for NPCL to charge a convenience fee for paying bills via NEFT?
Hello Fellow Members, I have been paying my bills online but noticed that Noida Power Company Ltd charges a convenience fee when I pay my bill via NEFT. Is this legal? What kind of "convenience" is NPCL giving a consumer? In fact it is the other way round... I use my telephone network to pay a bill that their staff doesn't have to process, but it goes directly into their account. more
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On IRCTC website, when we book ticket and pay by credit card the bank debits service charge. There are two debits in credit card account: 1. Total ticket amount; 2. Bank service charge+GST18%. I have two observations: 1. It appears that IRCTC (being a Govt. enterprise) does not pay merchant commission to Credit card bank; 2. The cost of reservation booking across the counter is much more costlier to Railways compare to online reservation. Hence, Railways saves cost if reservation is done through IRCTC online system. Then why Railways / IRCTC should not pay merchant commission to credit card agency..... The current system does not favour the use of online system and payment thru credit card. Railways and all other departments must change their practices and change their policies for paying merchant charges..... more
Jun 18
Convenience Fee: Legality is debatable, but sneaking a peek into past, I figured that system upgrades have taken place and needs to be updated frequently to meet the changing IT eco-system. Most companies have outsourced these systems at a fee thereby creating a parallel eco-system hence convenience fee. It pays for employees and other costs apart from Profits. I hope it clarifies. By the way, no convenience fee is payable when you make payment at the designated counter as it is already accounted for... more
Jun 18
There seems to be a confusion in understanding the issue - NEFT charges and Convenience charges. I suppose both are different. Now that NEFT charges have been made zero by the RBI, we still need to project and fight against the charging of 'convenience charge' for on-line payments. Convenience charge should be abolished by suitable legislation (and made punishable if charged) to further the advantage of digital payments. In some cases it is funny to note that we get cash back for making digital payment (incentive) while for the same transaction we end up paying a much higher convenience fee, wiping out the advantage of cash back and finally ending up with a loss (dis-incentive) for having made the digital transaction. more
Jun 18
It has come a news item recently, I am not sure of date of issuing notification, as it normally takes time and takes extra time further to execute down to the field offices. I have specifically made it clear in my observations. I shared it from my experience. You may also visit RBI consumer corner on web site or new notifications issued. thanks. more
Jun 18
