FreeCharge
FreeCharge is an India-based digital payments platform owned by Axis Bank, offering consumers mobile recharge and bill payments across 20+ categories via a mobile app, alongside a payment gateway product for merchants. It serves over 100 million users with UPI, BBPS, and multi-channel payment infrastructure.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersMumbai, India
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What FreeCharge does
FreeCharge, operating under the legal entity Freecharge Payment Technologies Private Limited, is an India-based digital payments platform that has evolved from a mobile recharge service founded by Kunal Shah in 2010 into a multi-category bill payment and payment gateway provider. The company operates a consumer-facing mobile and web application covering 20+ service categories including mobile recharge, electricity, gas, water, DTH, FASTag, broadband, landline, LPG cylinder booking, credit card bills, insurance premiums, rent via credit card, education fees, municipal taxes, and e-challans. On the merchant side, FreeCharge offers a Payment Gateway product and an Enterprise App supporting acceptance via UPI, cards, digital wallets, net banking, and 100+ payment channels, with real-time tracking and settlement reporting.
The platform's technology stack is anchored by UPI and Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) integration, with FreeCharge operating as a BBPS agent institution of Axis Bank and IndiaIdeas.com Limited. It is PCI DSS compliant and uses device-level data (installed applications, SMS content) for fraud detection. Distribution is primarily self-serve through the FreeCharge app on Google Play and Apple App Store, the freecharge.in website, and the dedicated freechargepg.in merchant portal. A Recharge API is also offered for partner integration. Axis Bank, which acquired FreeCharge from Snapdeal in April 2020 at an approximate Rs 745 crore valuation, provides distribution reach through its banking network.
FreeCharge generates revenue via transaction-based fees across consumer bill payments, payment gateway processing for merchants, and ancillary streams including business support fees and credit card convenience charges on rent payments above Rs 25,000. The consumer app is free for basic recharges and bill payments; the platform monetizes through fees from billers and merchants rather than direct consumer charges. Following recent product launches into NPS, EV recharge, NCMC, municipal services, and planned forays into lending and insurance distribution, the company is positioning itself as a broader financial services platform under Axis Bank ownership, with claimed reach of over 100 million users.
FreeCharge firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- FreeCharge
- Legal name
- Freecharge Payment Technologies Private Limited
- Website
- https://freecharge.in
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- FreeCharge is an India-based digital payments platform owned by Axis Bank, offering consumers mobile recharge and bill payments across 20+ categories via a mobile app, alongside a payment gateway product for merchants. It serves over 100 million users with UPI, BBPS, and multi-channel payment infrastructure.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
FreeCharge industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Payments
- NAICS
- Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232), Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Biller Direct EBPP Platforms (FSAMAJAA)
Keywords
Where FreeCharge is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Mumbai
- HQ country
- India
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
FreeCharge business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Consumer Bill Payment Services: FreeCharge earns revenue from transaction fees on mobile recharges, utility bill payments, and other financial transactions processed through its platform. The platform facilitates payments for mobile, electricity, gas, water, DTH, FASTag, insurance, and loan EMI payments.
- Payment Gateway Services: FreeCharge Payment Gateway charges merchants businesses for processing online payments. Enables acceptance of payments by UPI, Cards, Digital Wallets, Net Banking and 100+ other channels with features including high success rate and comprehensive reports.
- Business Support Fee Income: Revenue from business support services including payment aggregation and processing fees. FY25 saw significant decline in this stream contributing to overall revenue fall.
- Credit Card Transaction Fees: Revenue generated from credit card bill payments and rent payments via credit card, including convenience fees for transactions above Rs 25,000
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Consumer app - Free for basic recharges and bill payments |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Rent payment via credit card - convenience fee for transactions above Rs 25,000 |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Payment Gateway - merchant pricing |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels5 records
FreeCharge product offering
Product offeringCore offering
FreeCharge operates a consumer mobile and web app for mobile recharges, utility bill payments (electricity, gas, water, DTH, FASTag, broadband, landline, insurance, credit card, rent), and a B2B payment gateway that enables merchants to accept UPI, cards, digital wallets, net banking, and 100+ payment channels. It also offers an enterprise app for merchants to accept UPI QR payments, share payment links, and track settlements in real time.
Product overview
FreeCharge is a digital payments platform owned by Axis Bank (legal entity: Freecharge Payment Technologies Private Limited), offering a multi-sided product portfolio comprising: (1) a consumer-facing mobile and web app for recharges and bill payments across 20+ service categories including mobile, DTH, FASTag, electricity, gas, water, broadband, landline, insurance, credit cards, rent, education fees, and municipal taxes; (2) the FreeCharge Payment Gateway for businesses enabling acceptance of UPI, cards, digital wallets, net banking, and 100+ other payment channels; (3) the FreeCharge Enterprise App for business payment management; and (4) planned expansion into lending and insurance distribution. The platform is transitioning from a pure-play recharge and bill payment app toward a holistic financial services platform, trusted by over 100 million users.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- FreeCharge Consumer App FreeCharge's flagship mobile and web application enabling Indian consumers to perform mobile recharges (prepaid and postpaid), pay utility bills (electricity, gas, water, DTH, broadband, landline), book LPG cylinders, pay credit card bills, pay rent via credit card, pay insurance premiums, pay loan EMIs, pay municipal taxes, recharge FASTag and NCMC cards, manage OTT subscriptions, and access financial wellness tools. It is the primary consumer-facing surface of the platform.
- FreeCharge Payment Gateway An end-to-end payment gateway solution enabling Indian businesses and online merchants to accept payments via UPI, credit/debit cards, digital wallets, net banking, and 100+ other payment channels. Includes a high transaction success rate, comprehensive reporting, secure payment processing, and quick merchant onboarding.
- FreeCharge Enterprise App A merchant-facing mobile application enabling businesses to accept UPI payments via QR codes, share payment links for instant collection, track all transactions and settlement details in real time, and view complete transaction and refund details from a single platform.
- Mobile Recharge and Postpaid Bill Payments Core recharge services within the FreeCharge app supporting prepaid mobile recharge for all major Indian telecom operators (Airtel, Jio, Vi, BSNL, MTNL) and postpaid mobile bill payments for Airtel, BSNL, Jio, and Vi.
- Electricity Bill Payment Bill payment service for electricity across Indian state discoms and private providers including WBSEDCL, MSEDCL, BESCOM, TNEB, Tata Power, Adani Electricity, BSES Rajdhani, and others, with prepaid meter recharge support.
- FASTag Recharge Service for recharging FASTag accounts for Indian highway toll payments, supporting providers including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Axis Bank, Paytm Payments Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDFC First Bank, IndusInd Bank, and others.
- DTH Recharge Service for recharging DTH subscriptions across major Indian providers including Tata Play, Airtel Digital TV, Dish TV, Sun Direct, Videocon D2H, and Reliance Digital TV.
- Gas Pipeline Bill Payment Service for paying piped natural gas bills from providers including Mahanagar Gas (MGL), Indraprastha Gas (IGL), Gujarat Gas, Adani Gas, Torrent Gas, and others across major Indian cities.
- LPG Gas Cylinder Booking Service enabling users to book LPG gas cylinders from providers including Bharat Gas, HP Gas, and Indane Gas directly through the FreeCharge platform.
- Water Bill Payment Service for paying water utility bills from boards including BWSSB (Bangalore), DJB (Delhi), HMWSSB (Hyderabad), and others across India.
- Credit Card Bill Payment Service enabling users to pay credit card bills for all major issuing banks directly through the FreeCharge app, with convenience fees applicable on transactions above Rs 25,000.
- Broadband and Landline Bill Payments Services for paying broadband (Airtel Broadband, ACT Fibernet, Kerala Vision) and landline bills (Airtel, BSNL, MTNL Delhi, MTNL Mumbai) through the FreeCharge platform.
- Insurance Premium Payment Service for paying insurance premiums for providers including SBI Life Insurance, PNB Metlife, Max Life Insurance, Bharti AXA Life Insurance, Edelweiss Tokyo Life Insurance, and IDBI Federal Life Insurance.
- Rent Payment via Credit Card Service enabling users to pay rent using credit cards with instant transfers up to Rs 25,000 and transactions above that amount credited within 24 hours, subject to convenience fees on larger transactions.
- National Pension Scheme (NPS) Payment Service enabling users to make contributions to their National Pension System accounts through the FreeCharge platform.
- Loan EMI Repayment Service allowing users to pay loan EMIs for various loan products directly through the FreeCharge platform without visiting a bank.
- E-Challan / Traffic Challan Payment Service enabling users to pay traffic challans and e-challans issued by traffic police authorities through the FreeCharge platform.
- Municipal Tax Payment Service enabling users to pay municipal taxes and civic fees to various municipal corporations and local government bodies through the FreeCharge platform.
- Fleet Recharge Service enabling commercial fleet operators to manage and recharge multiple vehicles and fleet accounts through the FreeCharge platform.
- EV Recharge Service for recharging electric vehicle (EV) charging accounts, enabling EV owners to manage their charging payments through the FreeCharge platform.
- NCMC Recharge Service for recharging National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) accounts, supporting contactless transit payments across metro, bus, and other public transport systems in India.
- FreeCharge Recharge API API infrastructure enabling partners and developers to integrate FreeCharge's digital recharge and bill payment capabilities into their own platforms and applications.
Quantifiable outcome
- Trusted by over 100 million plus users in India
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use FreeCharge
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
FreeCharge technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
AI capability2 records
Feature5 records
FreeCharge partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- YatracoreFreeCharge partnered with Yatra to enable cashless payments for consumers on the travel platform. Users can now pay for travel bookings through FreeCharge's payment infrastructure.
- SnapdealminorSnapdeal acquired FreeCharge in 2015 in one of India's largest fintech acquisitions at the time for approximately $450 million. Kunal Shah (FreeCharge co-founder) subsequently founded CRED in 2018.
- IndiaIdeas.com LimitedcoreIndiaIdeas.com Limited partners with FreeCharge as co-agent institution for Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) services, enabling standardized utility bill payments across India.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
FreeCharge competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- PhonePe: PhonePe is India's largest UPI-based consumer payments platform offering mobile recharges, bill payments, and merchant payment gateway. It directly competes with FreeCharge across consumer bill pay, BBPS coverage, and merchant acquiring, and dwarfs FreeCharge in transaction volume and active user scale.
- Paytm: Paytm (One97 Communications) is a comprehensive Indian digital payments and financial services super-app covering recharges, bill payments, UPI, payment gateway, and lending. It overlaps FreeCharge's full consumer and merchant product portfolio and is the closest direct incumbent competitor.
- Google Pay (Tez): Google Pay is one of the leading UPI-based consumer payments apps in India with extensive bill payment and merchant QR coverage. It competes directly with FreeCharge on consumer-side recharge, bill pay, and merchant acceptance without a separate payment gateway offering.
- Mobikwik: Mobikwik is an Indian digital wallet and payments platform offering mobile recharges, bill payments, BBPS services, UPI, and a small payment gateway. It competes with FreeCharge across the same consumer recharges/bill pay category and serves a similar tier-2/3 India user base.
- Razorpay: Razorpay is a leading Indian payment gateway and merchant-focused online payments platform supporting UPI, cards, net banking, and 100+ payment methods. It competes directly with FreeCharge Payment Gateway for the same SMB and online merchant acquiring market.
- PayU India: PayU India (owned by Prosus) is an online payment gateway and consumer-facing LazyPay credit product in India. It competes with FreeCharge on the merchant acquiring side and increasingly on consumer credit (LazyPay vs. planned FreeCharge lending).
- Cashfree Payments: Cashfree Payments is an Indian payment gateway and payout platform offering UPI, card, and net-banking payment acceptance plus API-driven payouts. It overlaps FreeCharge's payment gateway product for the same SMB and enterprise merchant segment.
Emerging players
- CRED: CRED is a premium Indian fintech app for creditworthy cardholders that has expanded into bill payments (rent, utility), credit card bill pay, and merchant commerce. Founded by FreeCharge co-founder Kunal Shah, it overlaps FreeCharge's bill pay + credit-card-pay features but targets a much narrower, higher-credit-quality user base.
Broad incumbents
- Amazon Pay (India): Amazon Pay is a digital wallet and payments offering within Amazon India's e-commerce ecosystem, supporting UPI, wallet, and bill payments including recharges and utilities. It is not FreeCharge's direct equivalent but competes in consumer bill pay and merchant acceptance as part of a much broader commerce platform.
- BillDesk (Paytm-owned): BillDesk is one of India's largest BBPS-licensed bill payment aggregators serving multiple bank and fintech platforms with utility, telecom, and insurance billers. Following the 2022 Paytm acquisition, it competes at the bill-aggregator infrastructure level rather than directly on consumer app, but is a key counterpart and competitor for FreeCharge's BBPS agent role.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
FreeCharge social profiles
Digital presenceFreeCharge compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
FreeCharge financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
FreeCharge leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
FreeCharge funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds7 records
Investors7 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
FreeCharge M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about FreeCharge
What does FreeCharge do?
FreeCharge operates a consumer mobile and web app for mobile recharges, utility bill payments (electricity, gas, water, DTH, FASTag, broadband, landline, insurance, credit card, rent), and a B2B payment gateway that enables merchants to accept UPI, cards, digital wallets, net banking, and 100+ payment channels. It also offers an enterprise app for merchants to accept UPI QR payments, share payment links, and track settlements in real time.
Is FreeCharge a public or private company?
FreeCharge is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was FreeCharge founded?
FreeCharge was founded in 2010. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is FreeCharge based?
FreeCharge is headquartered in Mumbai, India, in the Asia region.
How does FreeCharge make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Consumer Bill Payment Services are the primary driver. The others are payment Gateway Services, business Support Fee Income and credit Card Transaction Fees.
Who are FreeCharge's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are PhonePe, Paytm, Google Pay (Tez), Mobikwik, Razorpay, PayU India and Cashfree Payments. CRED is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Amazon Pay (India) and BillDesk (Paytm-owned).
Does FreeCharge have an API?
Yes. FreeCharge offers a Recharge API that provides API infrastructure for digital recharge and bill payment services, enabling partners to integrate mobile recharge and utility payment capabilities into their platforms.
What industry is FreeCharge in?
FreeCharge's product category is Digital Payments. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAMAJAA, Biller Direct EBPP Platforms. Its NAICS code is 52232.