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There is a very important news for millions of customers using SBI Card. If you also have an SBI credit card, then improve your spending habits and payment methods. From May 1, 2026, the company is going to make major changes in its rules regarding late payment charges and annual fee waiver. These new rules will directly impact your pocket and reward points. The company has also issued an official notice for this, so that the users do not get shocked at the last moment.

Those with smaller dues will be hit harder

Under the new rules of SBI card, those people who have less outstanding will be hit the most. Till now no late fee had to be paid on dues up to ₹ 500, but this relief is ending from May 1. Now if your dues are between ₹100 to ₹500, you will have to pay a late fee of ₹100. At the same time, if the outstanding is between ₹ 500 and ₹ 1,000, the fee has been directly increased from ₹ 400 to ₹ 500. Although there is currently no change in the slab above ₹ 1,000, carelessness on small amounts will now prove costly.

Crackdown will be tightened on defaulters

Late payment fee is charged when you do not pay even the ‘Minimum Amount Due’ (MAD) by the due date. Another strict rule has been added to the new system. If a customer does not pay the minimum amount for two consecutive billing cycles, he will have to pay an additional charge of ₹100 every month. This charge will continue until the entire dues are cleared. Banking experts believe that the company is taking this step to discipline customers who are careless on small expenses.

Tension of BPCL SBI card users will increase

If you use ‘BPCL SBI’ credit card and want to waive its annual fee, then now you will have to struggle a lot. In the first year, the annual fee of ₹499 was waived off after spending ₹50,000, but from May 1, this limit has been doubled to ₹1 lakh. This means that now it will be difficult for moderate spending users to get the benefit of fee waiver. This change will most affect those people who mainly use this card for petrol-diesel and small purchases.

Many rules changed even before 2026

Let us tell you that this is not the first time that the rules have changed in 2026. Earlier, the expiry limit of points received after cashback and discount was fixed from January 15. At the same time, from January 10, the rules for domestic lounge access were also divided into two categories (Set A and Set B). Apart from this, a monthly limit (Cap) of 60,000 points has also been imposed on the reward points received on statement credit from the month of April.

How to avoid heavy fines?

Experts say that the best way to avoid these extra charges is to set the ‘auto-pay’ option for your card. Always try to make the payment 3-4 days before the due date so that the payment does not get stuck due to technical glitches. Also, keep checking the notifications coming from time to time on SBI Card App. In view of the increasing defaults in the banking sector, these rules have been made strict, hence your vigilance is your saving.