Credit Card Fees & Charges Compared

The common misreading is the annual fee. Every fee on a credit card attracts 18% GST on top, and issuers quote the fee before it. A ₹1,499 card costs ₹1,769 a year. Nothing on an issuer’s comparison page shows you that.

What does a credit card actually cost per year?

Here is the annual fee for every card in our verified dataset, as of 5 September 2026, shown both before and after GST.

Two things to take from that table. A fee waiver is a spend target, so a card that waives at ₹10,00,000 is not free unless you were going to spend ₹10,00,000 anyway. And forex markup varies from 0% to 3.5%, which on a ₹3,00,000 overseas trip is a difference of ₹10,500 before GST.

What is the interest rate on a credit card in India?

It is quoted per month, which is what makes it look small. HDFC Bank’s published Most Important Terms and Conditions, updated 5 September 2026, states finance charges of 3.75% per month, which the document itself writes as 45% per annum.

That is the number that matters. Forty-five per cent is roughly three times the top of the personal loan range we track and about six times a typical home loan rate. Carrying a card balance is the most expensive borrowing most households will ever do.

Your own card may differ. Every issuer must publish this. Under paragraph 9(b)(i) of the RBI Master Direction on credit and debit cards, the annualised percentage rate and the annual fee must be shown with equal prominence. Find that line on your own card’s terms before you assume it matches.

The full published schedule for one issuer

We publish HDFC Bank’s schedule because it is the one we checked line by line. Do not assume another issuer matches it. Check your own card’s terms.

The last row is the one people misread. “Up to 50 days interest free” is conditional. The MITC states plainly that it does not apply if the previous month’s balance has not been cleared in full, or if you have taken cash from an ATM. Revolve once and the grace period disappears until you clear the balance completely.

How is the late payment fee calculated?

Not on what you missed. On the size of your statement balance.

This surprises people who pay most of the bill and assume a small shortfall means a small fee. It does not. Miss the due date on a ₹60,000 statement and the fee is set by the ₹60,000, whatever you paid.

Add 18% GST to every figure in that column. The issuer’s own worked example in the MITC applies GST to interest and to the late payment charge together.

Which charges the RBI has already limited

Four rules in the Master Direction on credit and debit cards work in your favour, and most cardholders do not know they exist.

Unpaid charges cannot be compounded. Paragraph 9(b)(ii) states that unpaid charges, levies and taxes shall not be capitalised for charging or compounding of interest. So the issuer cannot charge interest on last month’s late fee.

Closure has a deadline. Under paragraph 8(a), a closure request must be completed within seven working days. Failure results in a penalty of ₹500 per calendar day of delay, payable to you, until the account is closed, provided there is nothing outstanding.

An unused card cannot be quietly activated. Paragraph 6(a)(vi) requires the issuer to seek your one-time-password consent if the card has not been used for more than 30 days. Without that consent, it must close the account free of cost within seven working days.

And the rate must be visible. Paragraph 9(b)(i) requires the annualised percentage rate to be shown with the same prominence as the annual fee. Our credit card RBI rules page has the full list.