A ₹2,499 annual subscription and a ₹249 monthly subscription need the same first check: how is the payment actually collected? The amount alone does not tell you whether you have authorised a recurring UPI mandate or are making a separate purchase each time.
As checked on 19/09/2026, the new merchant MDR framework is scheduled for 15/10/2026. The official FAQ, questions 5 and 22, gives that start date and says no MDR is prescribed on recurring UPI mandates or AutoPay transactions.
That answers the payment-fee question. It does not make the streaming plan, study tool or cloud storage free.
Find the renewal record
Open the service through its known app or website and check its billing page. Then compare that information with the mandate record in your payment app, where available. A monthly email receipt by itself does not establish which payment arrangement you accepted.
Make one row for each service:
| What to record | Your entry |
|---|---|
| Service and plan | ___ |
| Next renewal and displayed price | ___ |
| Recurring mandate or manual payment | ___ |
| Funding account or instrument | ___ |
| Keep, change or cancel | ___ |
Do not write your PIN, OTP or full account details in this note. A short account label is enough for your own comparison. The bank, wallet and credit guide explains why identifying the funding source matters.
Separate a price change from a payment charge
Consider an illustrative study app that changes its renewal price from ₹249 to ₹299. Before attributing the extra ₹50 to UPI, inspect the service's renewal notice and the itemised amount. Ask what changed: the plan price, a purchased add-on, or a claimed payment surcharge.
The Finance Ministry's announcement protects consumers from bearing the announced MDR and bars UPI-app platform charges for payments. That is a useful distinction when someone describes an unexplained addition as a compulsory UPI fee.
Close the audit with evidence
If you want to stop a subscription, follow the service's cancellation process and inspect the associated mandate separately. Save the confirmations and the stated access end date. Do not assume that cancelling one record proves what happened to the other, or that deleting the app settles either question.
Finally, compare annual and monthly costs on the same basis. An illustrative ₹249 monthly plan costs ₹2,988 across twelve payments; a ₹2,499 annual plan needs that larger amount at renewal. Choose based on expected use and money available, not the word “free” in a payment headline.