Convenience fee ? Why ?

In this age of technology, physical ticket booking counters are becoming vacant while the opposite is taking place at their virtual counter-parts. Not only a ticket bookings but recharging of mobiles, DTHs to paying electricity bills, online shopping etc., everything is now online and is being used by everyone. (there are still some who don’t WANT to try online shopping).

Each and every person pays a tax to the government. (income tax) Whichever income group/slab you belong to, you pay income tax. A good percentage of the income goes in tax. On top of this MAJOR tax, there are numerous taxes being paid at all points(sales tax, Value Added Tax), from restaurants to movies, these taxes are everywhere.

 

Online Shopping. Courtesy – Webllena.com

 

One thing I noticed is that, many online shopping portals, travel sites are tying up with various private banks and coming up with numerous offer. And these tie-ups are different for different websites. Sometimes the offers given are irresistible ! But have you ever noticed a tiny balloon saying A convenience fee/transaction fee/service fee of XX.XX Rs will be charged.”

Makemytrip.com convenience fee. Courtesy - theflyengineer
Makemytrip.com convenience fee. Courtesy – theflyengineer

Well this is what is charged by various portals if you avail services using the banks that don’t have a tie-up with that particular portal. So its like, I buy an e-ticket and the total bill is Rs 1500. Now, the portal has a tie-up with ABC bank. I pay using XYZ bank(no tie up), so the total ticket cost for me is 1700 Rs !! Just because I don’t have an account with ABC bank, doesn’t mean the end of the world for me !  First of all whats the need of convenience fee ? As if the portal person is physically going to ABC bank and get money !!

And to avoid this, do I need to have accounts in all the millions of banks ?? If that’s the case, I will gracefully say thank you and shut the window !! This fee is constantly on the rise, a month ago I visited this site and booked a ticket. The fee then was 100 Rs but today its 225 Rs !! Its ridiculous !

Maybe the government now needs to think about some novelle ideas to rake money from the Mango Man (Aam Aadmi )

About Atulmaharaj

A seasoned blogger and a content marketer for close to a decade now. I write about Food, Technology, Lifestyle, Travel, and Finance related posts. Blogging brings me joy and the best part is I get to read and e-meet so many amazing bloggers! PS: I'm also the founder for Socialmaharaj.com :) Favorite Quote: "Traveling is like reading a book, one who hasn't traveled, hasn't turned a page.

Check Also

India and its people

Improving Consumer Sentiment for a Growing Economy: My Honest Thoughts

“Mera beta engineer banega” I’m sure many of you can recollect this dialogue from the …

2 comments

  1. Thank you,Atulmaharaj.Great post,good info.

Share your thoughts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.