Payment gateway charges refer to the cost which is charged to facilitate online payment via the payment gateway (ex: Razorpay) on the website or app.

Payment gateway charges are calculated as a percentage of an online payment amount and vary according to the type of online payment methods used by the customer.

Razorpay's pricing reflects the true cost of reliable, scalable payment infrastructure—not just transaction processing. The rate is designed to maximise realised revenue while keeping pricing predictable and transparent.

The 2% fee includes:
• High payment reliability built for scale, with high success rates
• Intelligent routing and retries to reduce failed transactions
• Strong uptime and platform stability
• No setup fees, annual maintenance charges, or hidden costs

Rather than optimising for a lower headline rate, Razorpay focuses on helping businesses complete more payments successfully and operate without unexpected fees as volumes grow.

There are zero setup fees and zero Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC). The commercial model is strictly pay-as-you-go, you pay only the 2% transaction fee on successful payments. Unlike legacy providers that mandate upfront capital or fixed annual maintenance fees (ranges between ₹4,999 - ₹9,999), this Razorpay's pricing ensures costs remain proportional to transaction volume, preventing liability during lean periods.

No, we believe in complete transparency. There are no hidden fees for standard usage.

• Setup: ₹0
• Maintenance: ₹0
• Integration Support: ₹0

Optional value-added services, such as Instant Settlements, have clearly defined pricing that applies only when enabled.

Yes. The transaction fee and applicable GST are automatically deducted from the customer's payment at the source. The remaining amount is settled directly to your registered bank account according to your settlement cycle (typically T+1 or Instant).

No, there is Zero MDR (Merchant Discount Rate) on standard bank-to-bank UPI transactions. This means when a customer pays you directly from their bank account using any UPI app (Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, etc.), merchants are not charged a transaction fee by the bank. However, a standard platform or technology fee of 2% will be applied which is for the dashboard, reporting tools, and the secure infrastructure provided by the Payment Gateway.

No. RuPay Debit Card transactions are also covered under the Zero MDR policy. You will not incur any Merchant Discount Rate for these transactions.

What looks cheaper at first can become costly once fixed fees and operational impact are considered.

Payment gateways with lower headline pricing often add annual maintenance or setup charges that increase total spend as volumes grow. Razorpay keeps pricing simple and predictable, so businesses only pay for what they process—nothing extra to unlock scale.

Example: ₹3 lakh in monthly payment volume (annual comparison)

Razorpay (@ 2% transaction fee)
₹3,00,000 × 2% = ₹6,000 per month
₹6,000 × 12 = ₹72,000 per year
No annual maintenance or setup fees
Total annual cost: ₹72,000

Gateway with lower headline pricing (@ 1.8% transaction fee + annual charges)
₹3,00,000 × 1.8% = ₹5,400 per month
₹5,400 × 12 = ₹64,800
₹7,500 annual maintenance charge
₹2,000 set up fee
Total annual cost: ₹74,300

Even with a lower transaction rate, fixed annual fees make the total cost higher over time.

Beyond pricing, realised revenue matters. Reliable payment processing ensures fewer failed transactions, so more customer payments are successfully completed. As volumes grow, this impact compounds and becomes a larger driver of total cost than small differences in headline pricing.

A gateway can look cheaper upfront and still cost more in the long run. Predictability, reliability, and realised revenue define true cost—not just the rate on paper.

A gateway can look cheaper upfront and still cost more once failed transactions and fixed fees are considered.

When evaluating payment gateway pricing, businesses should look beyond the transaction rate and assess:
• Transaction fees/Platform fees
• Annual maintenance and setup charges
• Refund and chargeback fees
• Reliability and uptime
• Payment success rates, which directly impact realised revenue

Razorpay is built to deliver high success rates, ensuring more customer payments are completed successfully and more revenue is realised as volumes scale.

Hypothetical example: why success rate matters

Assume a business attempts ₹1 crore in customer payments per month.

• Gateway with lower reliability
Success rate: 70%
Revenue realised: ₹70 lakh

• Gateway with higher reliability
Success rate: 80%
Revenue realised: ₹80 lakh

A 10% difference in success rate results in ₹10 lakh more revenue realised every month, without any change in demand or marketing spend.

Over time, this additional realised revenue outweighs small differences in transaction fees and becomes a much larger driver of total cost.

This is why headline pricing alone is misleading. Predictability, reliability, and realised revenue define true cost—not just the TDR on paper.

Even at lower volumes, Razorpay's total cost remains competitive because there are no annual maintenance or setup charges. What appears cheaper on headline pricing can become costly once fixed fees are added.

Hypothetical Example: ₹1 lakh in monthly payment volume

Annual comparison:
• Razorpay @ 2% + ₹0 AMC: ₹2,000/month × 12 = ₹24,000/year
• Gateway at 1.6% + ₹4,999 AMC: (₹1,600/month × 12) + ₹4,999 = ₹24,199/year
• Gateway at 1.6% + ₹9,999 AMC: (₹1,600/month × 12) + ₹9,999 = ₹29,199/year

Even at small volumes, fixed annual fees can eliminate any apparent savings from a lower transaction rate.

Razorpay is designed to deliver high success rates, helping small businesses realise more revenue by reducing failed transactions. When every payment matters, higher reliability directly impacts cash flow and customer experience.

A gateway can look cheaper upfront and still cost more in practice.

Payment reliability directly affects customer acquisition efficiency and realised lifetime value. Failed payments waste marketing spend and increase your effective CAC.

A simple way to assess this is:
Effective CAC = Customer Acquisition Cost ÷ Payment Success Rate

Hypothetical example
CAC: ₹5,000 per customer

• Gateway with lower reliability
₹5,000 ÷ 70% Success Rate = ₹7,143 effective CAC

• Gateway with higher reliability
₹5,000 ÷ 80% Success Rate = ₹6,250 effective CAC

That's ₹893 extra spent per customer due to failed payments.

For a SaaS with ₹50,000 annual LTV acquiring 100 customers per month, this improvement in acquisition efficiency compounds to over ₹10 lakh in annual savings—often outweighing small differences in transaction pricing.

Razorpay is built to deliver high success rates, helping SaaS businesses realise more value from every customer they acquire.

Many legacy or budget gateways include:

• Setup Fees: (₹5,000 - ₹20,000 upfront)
• AMCs: (Annual charges regardless of usage)
• Minimum Monthly Fees: (Penalties if you don't transact enough)
• Integration Audit Fees: (Charges for checking your website code)

Razorpay charges none of these.

No genuinely free payment gateway exists in India. All gateways charge either:

• Transaction fees (TDR/MDR)
• Annual maintenance charges (AMC)
• Setup and activation fees
• Or a combination of these

Gateways advertising "free" or "0% fees" typically:
• Apply only to specific payment modes (e.g., UPI only)
• Have high fixed monthly/annual charges
• Limit transaction volumes before fees apply
• Add hidden costs later

Yes. We understand that economics change at scale. If your business processes high volumes (typically above ₹5 Lakhs/month), our Enterprise team can structure a custom commercial proposal that aligns with your volume, risk profile, and business model.