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Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Credit Card
Applications PausedAXIS · VISA · Entry tier

Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Credit Card

The Axis Bank Freecharge Plus is the cashback sibling of the base Freecharge card, built with Axis Bank's own Freecharge platform for people who pay recharges and bills through the app. It earns 5% cashback on Freecharge app spends — recharges and bill payments — 2% on local commute, and 1% on all other eligible spends. The commute tier is broader than it looks, covering taxi, bus, suburban-transport and car-rental merchant codes rather than just Ola and Uber. Cashback only applies to transactions of ₹100 or more, and the reward exclusion list is long: fuel, wallet loads, cash, gift cards, gold, EMI, rent, government, insurance, education and any utility paid outside Freecharge all earn nothing. Axis publishes no monthly cap on the 5%, and none on any tier — its own illustration returns an exact 5% on ₹15,000 of Freecharge spend. There is no fuel surcharge refund; the Key Fact Sheet names this card among those where it does not apply. The ₹350 annual fee waives at ₹50,000 of annual spend. Axis describes the card as invite-only through the Freecharge app, and our own checks found no new issuance, so we show it as paused for new applications; existing holders keep the card and its cashback exactly as before.

Axis BankENTRY
Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Credit Card
Axis Bank
Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Credit Card

Illustration by CardAdvisor — not a depiction of the issued card. Independent; not affiliated with Axis Bank.

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★ 3.8 / 5 · CardAdvisor rating•Issued by Axis Bank•Updated
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3.8
out of 5
Entry tier
The Freecharge Plus is a tidy little cashback card if the Freecharge app is genuinely where you pay your bills: 5% on those spends and 2% on cabs are strong rates for a ₹350 card that waives easily at ₹50,000. But the long exclusion list and the ₹100 minimum mean it only shines inside its lanes — outside Freecharge and cabs it is a plain 1% card. Hold it alongside a primary card, not as your only one.
Annual fee₹413 incl. GST
Fee waiver₹50,000 spend
Top rate~1%–5%
Best forFreecharge app regular paying recharges and utility bills
New applications paused

If you hold this card: Existing holders keep the card and its benefits exactly as before — only new applications are affected.

Axis stopped presenting this card in its application flow — it is simply no longer offered to new customers. There was no announcement, and the product page still carries an Apply button, which is why you will see this argued both ways: a stale product page is exactly what a quiet sourcing stop looks like.

How we checked — last verified 17 July 2026

Axis publishes no closure notice for this card, so we checked its own credit-card lineup instead. Of the 40 cards Axis lists, 27 carry an “Apply Now” button and 13 don’t — and the 13 are its retired and paused cards, including the AURA, which Axis does openly mark “no longer available”. This card is in that group: Axis shows it a “Know More” button and no way to apply, while the cards it still sources keep theirs.

We re-check this and will lift the notice as soon as the card is open to new applicants again. If you find it back on the issuer's application flow before we do, tell us — a human reads everything.

In-depth review

Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Credit Card

The cashback sibling of the Freecharge card: 5% on Freecharge recharges and bill payments, 2% on local commute and 1% everywhere else, for a low ₹350 fee that waives at ₹50,000. A tidy bill-pay-and-commute card that Axis is no longer offering to new applicants — sharp inside its lanes, plain 1% outside them, with a long exclusion list to respect.

Read the full review →

Key features

What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.

💰

5% cashback at Freecharge app — recharges and bill payments

5% cashback on on-deck Freecharge app recharges and bill payments. Transactions under ₹100 do not earn, and cashback is rounded down per transaction. Axis publishes no monthly cashback cap

💰

2% cashback at named travel merchants

2% cashback on local commute. Axis pays it on MCCs 4121, 4131, 4111 and 7512 — taxis and limousines, bus lines, local and suburban commuter transport, and car rental — not only Ola and Uber

💳

Annual Fee Waiver

Fee of ₹350 + 18% GST (₹413 all-in)/yr fully waived when you spend ₹50,000/year

💰 CASHBACK STRUCTURE

How much you earn back on each type of spend — no points math required.

5.0%

utility bills cashback

1.0%

Base rate (all other spends)

  • 5.0% cashback on utility bills
  • 1.0% on all other spends — no restrictions
Who is this for?

For a Freecharge app regular who routes recharges and utility bills through the app and commutes by cab, bus or rented car often — used as a focused bill-pay-and-commute second card, not an all-rounder.

Full reward structure

What you earn on every rupee, per spend category — as of 24 Oct 2026.

CategoryTypeRateMonthly cap
Utility Billsonly at Freecharge app — recharges and bill paymentscashback5%—
Travelonly at Taxis, bus lines, suburban transport and car rental (MCC 4111/4121/4131/7512), incl. Ola and Ubercashback2%—
Othercashback1%—

Utility Bills: 5% cashback on on-deck Freecharge app recharges and bill payments. Transactions under ₹100 do not earn, and cashback is rounded down per transaction. Axis publishes no monthly cashback cap · Freecharge app — recharges and bill payments

Travel: 2% cashback on local commute. Axis pays it on MCCs 4121, 4131, 4111 and 7512 — taxis and limousines, bus lines, local and suburban commuter transport, and car rental — not only Ola and Uber · Taxis, bus lines, suburban transport and car rental (MCC 4111/4121/4131/7512), incl. Ola and Uber

Other: 1% cashback on other eligible spends; transactions under ₹100 do not earn

Earns nothing on: Fuel · Wallet Loads · Cash Advances · Gift Cards & Vouchers · Gold and jewellery · EMI Conversions · Rent · Government & Tax · Insurance · Education · Utility payments outside the Freecharge app · Tolls & Road Fees

These spends earn no rewards at all — not a reduced rate, and not the base rate. They are also normally left out of any milestone or fee-waiver calculation.

Fees & charges

The numbers that matter beyond rewards — verify on the issuer site before applying. Fees below are shown inclusive of 18% GST, as of 24 Oct 2026.

Real annual cost: ₹350 + 18% GST = ₹413 all-in. Joining fee ₹350 + 18% GST = ₹413 all-in. Issuers quote fees before tax — the all-in figure is what you actually pay if the waiver isn’t met.
ChargeAmount
Annual fee (incl. 18% GST)₹413
Joining fee (incl. 18% GST)₹413
Finance charge (APR)3.75% p.m.
Forex markup3.5%

Should you get it?

  • Best for: Freecharge app regular paying recharges and utility bills, Frequent cab, bus or car-rental commuter, Someone wanting a low-fee bill-pay cashback second card
  • Entry tier — great for first-time and lower-spend users.
  • Strongest value if you spend heavily on everyday spends (1% back; 5% only at Freecharge app — recharges and bill payments).

Pros & cons

✓ Pros

  • 5% cashback on Freecharge recharges and bill payments, with no cap published by Axis
  • 2% cashback on local commute — taxi, bus, suburban transport and car rental, not just Ola and Uber
  • Low ₹350 fee, nil in the first year, waived thereafter on ₹50,000 of annual spend

✕ Cons

  • The 5% is Freecharge-app-only — pay the same bill anywhere else and you forfeit it
  • Long exclusion list — fuel, wallet, gold, rent, government, insurance, education and non-Freecharge utilities earn nothing; no cashback under ₹100
  • No fuel surcharge refund — the Key Fact Sheet names this card among those where it does not apply
  • Invite-only through the Freecharge app, and outside Freecharge and commute it is a plain 1% card

Eligibility & documents

EmploymentSalaried · Self-employed

Documents required

  • 📄PAN card
  • 📄Aadhaar / valid address proof
  • 📄Income proof — salary slips (salaried) or ITR (self-employed)

How to redeem rewards

Ways to convert what you earn into real value.

  • 🎁Cashback auto-credited / adjusted to the card statement

What your Cashback are worth

Realistic value per point by redemption route — the difference is what most people leave on the table.

Statement credit

Direct cash adjustment — no conversion

₹1.00/pt
Compare what every reward currency is worth →
The concern

The 5% is confined to Freecharge app spends and the exclusion list is long — pay bills anywhere else, or spend outside Freecharge and cabs, and you are on a plain 1% card.

Frequently asked questions

What cashback does it earn?
5% cashback on Freecharge app recharges and bill payments, 2% on local commute, and 1% on other eligible spends. The commute tier runs on merchant codes 4111, 4121, 4131 and 7512 — taxis, bus lines, local and suburban transport and car rental — so it is wider than the Ola and Uber that Axis names as examples. Cashback applies only to transactions of ₹100 or more, and Axis publishes no monthly cap on any tier. In effective-return terms this card's best everyday earn is 1% on everyday spends — percentages here are cashback as a share of spend, credited to the statement with no points to convert. It reaches 5% at Freecharge app — recharges and bill payments, and only there. Figures as of October 2026.
What is excluded from cashback?
Fuel, wallet loads, cash withdrawals, gift cards, gold, EMI, rent, government payments, insurance, education and utilities paid outside Freecharge — none earn cashback.
What is the fee?
A ₹350 annual fee, waived on ₹50,000 of spend in the previous year.
How is it different from the base Freecharge card?
The base Freecharge card earns EDGE Reward Points; the Freecharge Plus pays flat cashback (5% on Freecharge, 2% on local commute, 1% else). Choose Plus for defined cashback. Note that the ₹50,000 fee waiver belongs to the Plus, not to the base card, which has no published waiver at all.
How will Axis apply my payment across the outstanding balance from 28 August 2026?
From 28 August 2026 Axis clears a credit card payment in this order — fees and charges including taxes, then EMIs, then interest charges, then purchase transactions, and cash advances last. That swaps the final two: the order it replaced cleared cash advances fourth and purchases last. It only bites if you pay less than the full statement balance, because a part-payment now settles purchases before it reaches a cash advance — and Axis charges interest on a cash advance from the day of withdrawal, with no interest-free period, so the costliest balance is the one left outstanding longest. Paying the statement balance in full makes the order irrelevant.
How has the Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Credit Card changed over time?
Our dated Value Timeline for the Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Credit Card (on this page) records 8 changes since 2020: 6 devaluations, 0 improvements, and the rest neutral changes such as launches or restructures. The most recent entry: Dynamic currency conversion markup more than doubles to 3.5% (28 August 2026). Each event carries its source, so any figure here can be checked against the issuer's own documents.
Has the Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Credit Card been devalued recently?
Yes — our record shows 4 devaluations to the Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Credit Card in the last 24 months. The most recent: Dynamic currency conversion markup more than doubles to 3.5%, effective 28 August 2026 — from 1.5% + GST to 3.5% + GST. The full dated list, with what changed and its source, is in the Value Timeline on this page.
When did the Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Credit Card's fees last change?
28 August 2026: Dynamic currency conversion markup more than doubles to 3.5% — from 1.5% + GST to 3.5% + GST. The current fee schedule is in the fees table on this page; the Value Timeline lists every earlier fee change we have on record.
How did the Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Credit Card change in 2026?
Our record shows 3 changes to the Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Credit Card in 2026 (3 cuts): Tolls and road fees stop earning rewards; gift cards split into their own category (28 August 2026); New top late-payment slab of Rs 1,300 above Rs 50,000 (28 August 2026); Dynamic currency conversion markup more than doubles to 3.5% (28 August 2026). The biggest single change: before 28 August 2026 it was 1.5% + GST; from then on, 3.5% + GST. Every event, dated and sourced, is in the Value Timeline on this page.

The bottom line

The Freecharge Plus is a tidy little cashback card if the Freecharge app is genuinely where you pay your bills: 5% on those spends and 2% on cabs are strong rates for a ₹350 card that waives easily at ₹50,000. But the long exclusion list and the ₹100 minimum mean it only shines inside its lanes — outside Freecharge and cabs it is a plain 1% card. Hold it alongside a primary card, not as your only one.

⏸ New applications paused →Estimate my rewardsIs this YOUR best card? →

How this page was built

Counted from this card’s own record: 3 earn rules, 2 paid only at named merchants and the spends listed as earning nothing. The renewal fee is conditional — it is waived on a published spend target, so the fee you pay depends on what you spend.

Last updated 24 Oct 2026.

Sources & verification

Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Credit Card are taken from Axis Bank's official Most Important Terms & Conditions (MITC) and fee schedule — see the card's official page. Last updated 24 Oct 2026. Reviewed by Devchandra Sah. Always confirm current details on the issuer's site before applying. How we research →

Independence. CardAdvisor is an independent editorial publication. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or authorised to act for Axis Bank. All issuer names, product names, and payment-network marks are the property of their respective owners and appear here for identification and comparison only. Card faces shown on this site are our own original illustrations — we do not display or host issuer card artwork or logos.

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Guides and reviews related to this card.

Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Credit Card

The cashback sibling of the Freecharge card: 5% on Freecharge recharges and bill payments, 2% on local commute and 1% everywhere else, for a low ₹350 fee that waives at ₹50,000. A tidy bill-pay-and-commute card that Axis is no longer offering to new applicants — sharp inside its lanes, plain 1% outside them, with a long exclusion list to respect.

→

Value timeline

Every real-world change to this card's rewards, fees and benefits we've tracked — newest first, each linked to its source.

Tracking since 2020 · last change Aug 2026

▲ Revaluation▼ Devaluation◆ Neutral / reversed

2026

  1. ▼ FeeObserved 29 Jul 2026 · Effective 28 Aug 2026

    Dynamic currency conversion markup more than doubles to 3.5%

    1.5% + GST→3.5% + GST

    Axis Bank raised the dynamic currency conversion mark-up from 1.5% to 3.5% plus GST. DCC applies when an overseas merchant offers to bill you in rupees instead of the local currency, and it stacks on top of the usual foreign-currency mark-up. Declining the rupee option at the terminal and paying in the local currency avoids the charge entirely.

    Verification: Axis Bank ↗ · Confidence: High

  2. ▼ FeeObserved 29 Jul 2026 · Effective 28 Aug 2026

    New top late-payment slab of Rs 1,300 above Rs 50,000

    Rs 1,200 on any total payment due above Rs 10,000→Rs 1,200 from Rs 10,001 to Rs 50,000; Rs 1,300 above Rs 50,000

    Axis Bank added a fifth late-payment slab. Everything up to Rs 50,000 is unchanged, but a total payment due of more than Rs 50,000 now attracts Rs 1,300 instead of Rs 1,200. The same notice fixes the order in which a payment is applied to the outstanding: fees and charges including taxes first, then EMIs, interest, purchases and cash advances.

    Verification: Axis Bank ↗ · Confidence: High

  3. ▼ RewardObserved 29 Jul 2026 · Effective 28 Aug 2026

    Tolls and road fees stop earning rewards; gift cards split into their own category

    Bridge fees, road fees and tolls earned at the normal rate→No rewards or cashback on bridge fees, road fees and tolls

    Axis Bank added bridge fees, road fees and tolls to the spends that earn nothing. Separately, gift card purchases move out of the Wallet spend category into a new Gift Card category; they already earned no rewards, and they continue to be excluded from spend-based fee waivers and milestone thresholds.

    Verification: Axis Bank ↗ · Confidence: High

2025

  1. ◆ RewardEffective 20 Jun 2025

    Exclusion identification switched from MCC codes to spend category

    Excluded categories (Rent, Wallet, Utility outside Freecharge, etc.) identified by 4-digit Merchant Category Code→Same categories identified by spend-category label instead of MCC

    Effective 20 June 2025, Axis switched how it flags cashback-excluded and fee-waiver-excluded spends on the Freecharge Plus from raw 4-digit MCCs to a named spend-category system. The bank's own notice states there is no change to which categories are excluded — this is a bookkeeping/detection-method change, not a rate cut.

    Verification: Axis Bank ↗ · Confidence: High

2024

  1. ▼ FeeEffective 20 Dec 2024

    Bank-wide charges revision: finance charge, DCC markup and new fees raised

    3.6%/mo finance charge; 1% DCC markup; ₹100 branch cash-payment fee; no wallet/fuel/utility spend surcharge→3.75%/mo finance charge; 1.5% DCC markup; ₹175 branch cash-payment fee; new 1% surcharges on high wallet-load/fuel/utility spends; new auto-debit-reversal and EDGE-linked fees

    As part of a portfolio-wide Axis Bank repricing effective 20 December 2024 (applying general fee/rate terms across the card book), the Freecharge Plus's monthly finance charge rose from 3.6% to 3.75% — matching the rate in the live catalog today — the DCC markup on international INR transactions rose 1%→1.5%, cash payment at a branch rose ₹100→₹175, the earlier-capped rent surcharge went uncapped, and new fees were introduced for cheque/auto-debit reversal and for cumulative wallet-load, fuel and utility spends above set thresholds.

    Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High

2023

2020

Each change links to the issuer's own document — bank T&C, MITC, notice, press release or product page — where one is public. Where the bank published nothing, it's marked CardAdvisor Research and verified against the card's current terms. Independent of the live terms shown above. This timeline is one card's slice of our market-wide change record across every tracked card.

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Source: <a href="https://cardadvisor.in/cards/axis-freecharge-plus#value-timeline">Axis Bank Freecharge Plus Credit Card value timeline</a>, CardAdvisor (CC BY 4.0).