On-hold payment on Paytm

This morning, while I was on my way to office, I was looking at my Paytm pasbook and shocked to see an INR 350 as on-hold payment with a transaction number. However, it did not show the merchant name. That made me feel confused what that on-hold transaction is all about. Thankfully, there is a “need help?” link against every transaction that sends an inquiry to Paytm. I have used that option and sent an inquiry.

Paytm Care was quick enough in responding and I have learn a new thing from their response. It has happened due to a policy of Uber. When a ride on Uber begins and payment method is chosen as Paytm, a INR 350 will be taken as on-hold payment though actual fare gets debited from the account on completion of the trip.

I believe this is the reason why Uber doesn’t allow us to book a ride using Paytm option when Paytm balance is below INR 350. Perhaps the intent is that they need a guarantee from customer about the payment. What if I choose to pay by cash? Will the driver ask me to deposit INR 350?

In this situation, I feel more secure with Ola model. When there is not enough money on Ola money, Ola still accepts the booking and balance is collected in cash at the end of the trip.

I think Uber should learn to trust customers. Another issue about Uber is they do deduct INR 50 or INR 75 when customer cancels a trip after 5 minutes (though sometimes we get refund after reporting on the app), but they would only say an apology when a ride gets cancelled by driver even after 30 minutes of wait. Why not componsation is credited to customer’s account?

Uber, learn to be ethical and trust your customers.

2 responses to “On-hold payment on Paytm”

  1. Steve Sawczyn Avatar

    Very interesting. Here, when I book an Uber, they immediately put a hold on my account for what they estimate the base fare will be. After the ride, the actual amount is charged to my account. If a ride is canceled, by me or the driver, the hold is eventually removed but it takes a day or two for that to happen. As such, i might have a number of holds on my account in any given day and I have to wait a few days for the mess to clear up. Unfortunately, we do not have the option here of paying with cash. One of the selling points of uber for us is that no cash is required.

  2. Srinivasu Chakravarthula Avatar

    Here in India, we don’t have to wait for days to get our refund. It usually happens instantly. In case when we report an incident, that payments get credited within a day.

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