Zero annual fee sounds simple — in practice, Indian issuers mix true lifetime-free cards (no joining fee, no renewal fee in the published schedule) with first-year-free or fee-waived-on-spend products that still show a headline fee in the MITC.
This article focuses on cards where CardCheck’s issuer-sourced fee fields show ₹0 joining and ₹0 annual fee (23 products in our April 2026 snapshot). We group them by use case, flag relationship-only plastics, and point you to MITC PDFs and the Rewards Calculator so you can model your spend — not a generic leaderboard.
Cards in this comparison
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Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card
Annual fee: ₹0
Scapia Federal Bank Credit Card
Annual fee: ₹0
IDFC FIRST Classic Credit Card
Annual fee: ₹0
IDFC FIRST Millennia Credit Card
Annual fee: ₹0
IDFC FIRST WOW! Credit Card
Annual fee: ₹0
FreeCharge Axis Bank Credit Card
Annual fee: ₹0
YES Bank RuPay Credit Card
Annual fee: ₹0
BOBCARD Prime Credit Card
Annual fee: ₹0
What “zero fee” should mean on the MITC
RBI’s public credit card FAQs expect issuers to disclose fees and charges clearly. On the Schedule of Charges inside each card’s Most Important Terms and Conditions (MITC) you should see joining fee, annual / renewal fee, and any waiver rules.
Lifetime free (this article’s filter): both fees show ₹0 with no spend waiver line — you are not buying a hidden renewal in year two.
Different animal: “₹0 first year, ₹499 from year 2” or “fee waived on ₹X lakh spend” is not zero annual fee in the strict sense — compare those on the card directory using fee filters.
E-commerce and everyday cashback (₹0 fee)
Amazon Pay ICICI Bank — ₹0 / ₹0 in our data; 5% back on Amazon.in for Prime (3% non-Prime), 2% on Amazon Pay partner checkouts, 1% elsewhere; cashback to Amazon Pay balance; exclusions include fuel, EMI, wallet load, international (per our captured MITC-aligned benefits).
FreeCharge Axis Bank — ₹0 / ₹0; 5% cashback on FreeCharge recharges and bill payments and 1% on other retail in our benefit lines; Axis Bank MITC (credit cards) is the master disclosure hub on Axis’s site.
BOBCARD Prime — public-sector bank option with ₹0 / ₹0 in our catalog and flat rewards on spends (see card page for earn structure and exclusions).
Travel, forex, and flight bookings (₹0 fee)
Scapia Federal Bank — ₹0 / ₹0; no forex markup on international transactions in our sourced benefits, 10% “travel coins” on Scapia app flight/hotel bookings, 2% coins on other eligible spends; coins redeem inside Scapia (not cash to bank).
IDFC FIRST WOW! — ₹0 / ₹0 secured card (fixed deposit backing); 0% forex markup and starter rewards in our data — strong if you need credit history or a backup travel line without a fee.
IDFC FIRST “all online” lifetime-free stack
IDFC FIRST Bank lists several ₹0 / ₹0 variants in CardCheck; pick by earn tier:
- IDFC FIRST Classic — 3X FIRST Coins per ₹150 on online spends, 1X offline; interest from 9% p.a. in our overview; 1.5% forex markup.
- IDFC FIRST Millennia — 5X on online (per our data) for heavier digital spenders who still want no fee.
Use Compare to put Classic vs Millennia next to each other before applying.
UPI-linked RuPay credit (₹0 fee)
YES Bank RuPay Credit Card — ₹0 / ₹0 in our catalog with UPI-linked RuPay positioning and 1% cashback-style earn on eligible spends in our fields — useful if you want UPI on credit without a fee.
IndusInd Bank Samman RuPay — another ₹0 / ₹0 RuPay programme in our database (government-scheme positioning; confirm eligibility on the issuer page).
Premium-looking cards that are ₹0 — but need a banking relationship
Several ₹0 / ₹0 products in CardCheck are not open-market applications — they are bundled with private / priority banking or issuer programmes:
- Axis Bank Magnus (Burgundy)
- HSBC Premier
- ICICI Bank MINE
- IndusInd Pioneer Heritage
- IDFC FIRST Wealth / Select (relationship-tier variants in our data)
If you do not already hold the underlying relationship, treat these as aspirational references, not shortlist items.
How to pick in three checks
1. Spend fit: dominant channel (Amazon, travel, UPI, bills) → match the card whose published accelerators line up. 2. Cost beyond fee: forex markup, APR if you might revolve, reward caps — all live in MITC and on each CardCheck page. 3. Proof in rupees: plug your monthly numbers into the Rewards Calculator; a ₹0 fee card that earns 0.5% everywhere can still lose to a ₹500 fee card you never apply for — the calculator removes guesswork.
ICICI publishes Amazon Pay card FAQs and T&Cs alongside MITC extracts; IDFC FIRST lists credit card MITC documents on its site. Always download the version dated for your application.
FAQ
- Are zero-fee cards weaker on rewards?
Not necessarily. Amazon Pay ICICI and Scapia are ₹0 fee in our data yet carry 5–10%-style headline earn in their categories. The trade-off is often where rewards can be used (Amazon Pay balance, Scapia app) or caps, not the fee line.
- Will the bank start charging a fee later?
Issuers can change Schedule of Charges with notice per regulatory rules. Your protection is the MITC in force when you were issued the card plus any contractual renewal terms — read the PDF, not the Instagram infographic.
- Is a secured card “worse” than unsecured?
IDFC FIRST WOW! ties a fixed deposit to the limit but offers 0% forex and no fee in our catalog — for thin credit files it is often the rational first card.
- How many ₹0-fee cards are on CardCheck?
23 credit cards had ₹0 joining and ₹0 annual fee in our April 2026 snapshot (including relationship-only products). The card list grows as we add issuers — filter by bank and open each page’s fee block to confirm.