SBI Card’s New 1% Fuel and Transport Fees: Who Pays

Last verified: 28 October 2026 against SBI Card’s email to cardholders on 27 October 2026, SBI Card’s revised-charges notice and customer notices page on sbicard.com, the SBI Card MITC (correct as on 23 October 2026) and the BPCL SBI Card Octane T&C.

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SBI Card emailed its cardholders on 27 October with two new charges. One is on fuel. One is on transport bills. Both start on 1 December 2026. If you fill Rs 3,000 or Rs 8,000 of petrol a month, you can stop worrying now: neither fee touches you. The people who will pay are the ones putting a business’s or a whole fleet’s fuel on one SBI card. Here is the arithmetic for both.

The short version

From 1 December 2026, if your total fuel spend on an SBI credit card goes above Rs 50,000 in one billing cycle, SBI charges 1% on the whole fuel amount, not just the part above Rs 50,000. Separately, any single transport transaction above Rs 30,000 (local transport, bus lines, tolls) attracts a 1% fee. SBI’s MITC says taxes apply on all its fees, so add 18% GST to each. The notice names no exceptions, so it covers all SBI personal credit cards, including the BPCL SBI Card Octane. A typical salaried cardholder spends nowhere near these limits.

What changes on 1 December

What	Until 30 Nov	From 1 Dec
Fuel spends in one billing cycle	No SBI fee	1% of the total fuel spend, if the total is above Rs 50,000
One transport transaction	No SBI fee	1% of that transaction, if it is above Rs 30,000
What counts as fuel	Not applicable	Merchant codes 5172, 5541, 5542, 5983 (pumps, fuel dealers, LPG dealers)
What counts as transport	Not applicable	Merchant codes 4111, 4131, 4784 (local commuter transport, bus lines, tolls)
GST on the fee	Not applicable	18% on top, under SBI’s general rule on fees

Two details decide who pays. First, the fuel fee is a cliff, not a slab. At Rs 50,000 you pay nothing. At Rs 50,001 you pay 1% on all of it. Second, the transport fee is counted per transaction, while the fuel fee is counted on the whole billing cycle. SBI’s MITC gives its own example: Rs 60,000 of fuel in a cycle means a Rs 600 fee.

SBI also says the card networks decide which shop gets which code, and can change them without telling you. So the shop’s code, not what you bought, decides whether a spend counts as fuel or transport.

What it costs you, worked out in rupees

Reader 1: salaried, Rs 40,000 a month, in a city like Pune or Hyderabad. You put about Rs 14,000 a month on your SBI card. Of that, Rs 4,000 is petrol for the bike and the family car. The rest is groceries, bills and local shops.

• Fuel in a cycle: Rs 4,000. The fee starts only above Rs 50,000.
• Rs 50,000 ÷ Rs 4,000 = 12.5. You would need to buy twelve and a half times more fuel before the fee applies.
• Fuel fee per cycle: Rs 0. Per year: Rs 0 × 12 = Rs 0.
• Transport: a car FASTag recharge of Rs 500 or Rs 1,000 is nowhere near Rs 30,000. Fee: Rs 0.

For this reader, nothing changes. Keep using the card as you do.

Reader 2: runs two taxis or a small transport business, Rs 60,000 of diesel a month on one SBI card. This is the person SBI is aiming at.

• Fuel in a cycle: Rs 60,000. That is above Rs 50,000, so the fee applies to all of it.
• Fee: Rs 60,000 × 1% = Rs 600.
• GST: Rs 600 × 18% = Rs 108.
• Cost per cycle: Rs 600 + Rs 108 = Rs 708.
• Cost per year: Rs 708 × 12 = Rs 8,496.

If that card is the BPCL SBI Card Octane, it gets worse. The Octane’s fuel points stop at 2,500 points a cycle, which is Rs 10,000 of BPCL fuel. At SBI’s rate of 4 points = Re 1 of BPCL fuel, 2,500 points are worth Rs 625. Add the maximum fuel surcharge waiver of Rs 100 a cycle and the most the card can return on fuel is Rs 725 a cycle.

• Best-case fuel benefit: Rs 625 + Rs 100 = Rs 725 a cycle.
• New fee with GST: Rs 708 a cycle.
• What is left: Rs 725 − Rs 708 = Rs 17 a cycle, or Rs 17 × 12 = Rs 204 a year.

Now move Rs 11,000 of that diesel to a different card so the Octane carries Rs 49,000. The Octane still earns its full Rs 725, because the cap is reached at Rs 10,000. The fee drops to Rs 0. That one change keeps Rs 708 a cycle, or Rs 8,496 a year, in your pocket, minus whatever surcharge the other card’s bank leaves on its Rs 11,000.

The cliff in numbers. Rs 50,000 of fuel in a cycle: fee Rs 0. Rs 51,000: fee Rs 510 plus Rs 91.80 GST, so Rs 601.80. One extra Rs 1,000 fill costs you about Rs 600. If you are close to the line, watch it.

The transport fee. A single Rs 35,000 toll-wallet recharge for a fleet costs Rs 350 plus Rs 63 GST, so Rs 413. As the notice is worded, the fee is counted per transaction, so recharges of Rs 30,000 or less each attract no fee. A transaction of exactly Rs 30,000 is not charged; Rs 30,001 is.

What you should do

• If your fuel is under Rs 50,000 a cycle (almost everyone): do nothing. Nothing about your card changes.
• If you are near Rs 50,000: check last month’s statement for your total fuel spend. From the December cycle, move the excess to another card so the SBI card stays at or under Rs 50,000.
• If you hold the Octane and spend more than Rs 10,000 a cycle on fuel: the extra already earned no points. From 1 December it can also cost you 1%. Use the Octane for the first Rs 10,000 at BPCL and put the rest elsewhere.
• If you pay large toll or bus bills for a business: check whether any single payment goes above Rs 30,000.
• If you hold two SBI cards: SBI has not said whether it adds up fuel across your SBI cards or counts each card on its own. Until it says, keep your combined SBI fuel total under Rs 50,000 a cycle if you can.
• Always pay the full bill. SBI Card’s interest on an unpaid balance costs far more than any of these fees.

The BPCL SBI Card Octane after this change

Fee line. Rs 1,499 + taxes a year, as listed in SBI Card’s MITC. SBI reverses the fee if you meet its yearly spend target; the number and the maths are in our full Octane review.

What you earn. 25 reward points per Rs 100 on BPCL fuel, up to 2,500 points a statement cycle. A fuel surcharge waiver at BPCL on transactions up to Rs 4,000, up to Rs 100 a month. 10 points per Rs 100 on groceries, departmental stores, movies and dining, up to 7,500 points a month. 1 point per Rs 100 on other retail spends. Points redeem at 4 points = Re 1 (valuing 1 point at Rs 0.25 when redeemed for BPCL fuel).

The catch. The fuel rewards stop at Rs 10,000 of BPCL fuel a cycle, and from 1 December fuel above Rs 50,000 a cycle costs 1% of the whole amount plus GST. The card was never built for heavy fuel users, and from 1 December heavy fuel spend on it carries a real cost. UPI payments at the pump earn no points and get no surcharge waiver.

Best for. Someone who buys Rs 4,000 to Rs 10,000 of fuel a month at a BPCL pump on their regular route, taps or swipes the card, and pays the full bill every month. For that person, the new fee changes nothing.

FAQ

Will I pay the new fee if I spend Rs 10,000 a month on petrol?

No. The fuel fee applies only when your fuel spends on the card go above Rs 50,000 in one billing cycle. At Rs 10,000 a month you are Rs 40,000 below the line.

Is the 1% charged only on the amount above Rs 50,000?

No. SBI’s notice says the 1% is charged on the total fuel spends once the cycle total crosses Rs 50,000. Rs 51,000 of fuel means a Rs 510 fee, plus 18% GST, for Rs 601.80 in all.

Does it apply to the BPCL SBI Card Octane and other co-branded SBI cards?

The notice is addressed to SBI credit cardholders in general and lists no exceptions. Octane cardholders received the same email. The MITC section on these fees does not exclude any card either.

Does my FASTag recharge count as a transport transaction?

Toll and bridge fees (merchant code 4784) are on SBI’s list, but the fee applies only to a single transaction above Rs 30,000. A normal car recharge is far below that. Whether a particular recharge is coded as a toll depends on how that merchant is registered.

Is this the same as the 1% fuel surcharge at the pump?

No. The fuel surcharge is levied through the pump’s bank on each fill, and some cards, like the Octane at BPCL, waive it within limits. The new fee is SBI Card’s own charge on high total fuel spend, and it comes on top.

Is GST charged on the new fees?

SBI’s MITC says all taxes apply on its fees and charges, and lists IGST at 18% (or CGST 9% plus SGST 9% in Haryana). So a Rs 600 fee becomes Rs 708.

Read next on CardShala

• What the BPCL SBI Card Octane really paid me in a year
• UPI charges above Rs 2,000: what changes at petrol pumps and shops
• Best credit cards for first-time users in India

Sources, checked 28 October 2026: SBI Card’s email to cardholders on 27 October 2026; SBI Card revised-charges notice (PDF); SBI Card customer notices page; SBI Card MITC, correct as on 23 October 2026 (PDF); BPCL SBI Card Octane T&C (PDF); NPCI merchant category code list for what each code covers.