Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers. Last Updated 5th Dec 2023.
Do you use your personal vehicle to commute and rising fuel prices are burning a hole in your pocket? I am here to help you take that extra mile by getting you some rewards and benefits on your existing fuel spending. This article will help you choose the best credit cards for fuel spending.
Best Fuel Credit Cards in India
Here I am listing all the credit cards in India for fuel spending and will also recommend some of the cards as per a broad classification.
AMEX Gold Charge
- More Details
- Variant: AMEX
- The reward rate on fuel is a minimum of 6.66%(Amazon Vouchers) and approximately 10%(Travel Redemptions) if you can do 6 transactions of ₹1,000 each.
- Joining Fee: ₹1000+GST
- Annual Fee: ₹4999+GST
- Surcharge Waiver: Full waiver at HPCL bunks on transactions max up to ₹5000.
AMEX Membership Rewards
- More Details
- Variant: AMEX
- The reward rate on fuel is a minimum of 6.66%(Amazon Vouchers) and approximately 10%(Travel Redemptions) if you can do 4 transactions of ₹1500 each or 4 or more transactions greater than ₹1500 each totalling ₹20,000.
- Joining Fee: ₹1000+GST
- Annual Fee: ₹4500+GST (Waived off on annual spends of ₹1.5L).
- Surcharge Waiver: Full waiver at HPCL bunks on transactions max up to ₹5000.
SBI BPCL Octane
- More Details
- Variant: VISA Signature
- The reward rate on fuel is 6.25% value back on a maximum of up to ₹4000/transaction and ₹10,000/month.
- Joining Fee: ₹1499+GST
- Annual Fee: ₹1499+GST (Waived off on annual spending of ₹2L).
- Surcharge Waiver: 1% up to ₹100/Month on a transaction max up to ₹4000.
- Milestone Benefits: E-Gift Voucher worth ₹2000 on 3L spends.
SBI is running an exciting welcome offer for credit card applications via referral. You will get an e-voucher worth ₹500 on spending min ₹500 within 30 days of card issuance. APPLY NOW!
IDFC First Power Plus
- Variant: Rupay
- The reward rate on fuel spends is 4% cashback up to ₹400/month when swiped on any bank POS or HP Pay Application.
- Joining Fee: ₹499+GST
- Annual Fee: ₹499+GST (Waived off on annual spends of ₹1.5L).
BOB HPCL Energie Credit Card
- More Details
- Variant: Rupay
- The reward rate on fuel spends is 4% cashback up to ₹250/month when swiped on any bank POS or HP Pay Application.
- Joining Fee: ₹500+GST
- Annual Fee: ₹500+GST (Waived off on annual spends of ₹50K).
ICICI HPCL Super Saver
- Variant: Visa Platinum
- The reward rate on fuel spends is 4% cashback up to ₹200/month when swiped on any bank POS or HP Pay Application.
- Joining Fee: ₹500+GST
- Annual Fee: ₹500+GST (Waived off on annual spending of ₹1.5L).
Union Bank Uni Carbon
- Variant: Rupay Platinum
- The reward rate on fuel spends is 4% cashback up to ₹150/month when swiped on any bank POS or HP Pay Application.
- Joining Fee: ₹499+GST
- Annual Fee: ₹499+GST (Waived off on annual spending of ₹1.5L).
- Surcharge Waiver: 1% fuel surcharge waiver up to ₹100/month on a minimum of ₹200 per transaction.
ICICI HPCL Coral AMEX
- Variant: AMEX
- The reward rate on fuel is 2.5% cashback up to ₹100 and 6 PAYBACK points (~net 4%) only when swiped on ICICI EDC Machines for a minimum of ₹500/transaction.
- Joining Fee: ₹199+GST
- Annual Fee: ₹199+GST (Waived off on annual spends of ₹50K).
- Surcharge Waiver: 1% up to ₹100/Month on a transaction of max up to ₹4000.
Kotak IndianOil
- Variant: VISA Signature/RuPay
- The reward rate on fuel is 4% cashback up to ₹300 per month.
- Joining Fee: ₹449+GST
- Annual Fee: ₹449+GST (Waived off on annual spends of ₹50K).
- Surcharge Waiver: 1% on spending between ₹200 to ₹5000 per month.
Axis Bank IOCL Credit Card
- Variant: VISA Signature/RuPay
- The reward rate on fuel is 4% cashback up to ₹200 per month.
- Joining Fee: ₹500+GST
- Annual Fee: ₹500+GST (Waived off on annual spends of ₹50K).
- Surcharge Waiver: 1% on spending between ₹200 to ₹5000 per month.
Standard Chartered Super Value Titanium
- Variant: MasterCard
- The reward rate on fuel is 4% cashback up to ₹160/month on a maximum of ₹2000/transaction at any fuel pump in India. The unique thing about this card is that it works even online on fuel wallets and even if you scan PayTM QR at fuel bunks and punch in the card digits.
- Joining Fee: ₹750+GST
- Annual Fee: ₹750+GST (Waived off on annual spends of ₹90K).
- Surcharge Waiver: 1% up to ₹20 cashback per transaction of the maximum value of ₹2000 at any fuel pump in India.
TechnoFino Maximum
Fuel Surcharge Waiver Condition
There is a peculiar condition attached to fuel surcharges and their waiver every time you fill your vehicle. For every swipe equal to or less than ₹1000 a 1% surcharge is applicable subject to a minimum value of ₹10 per transaction but reversal is done only for the actual amount of fuel that you have purchased. So this isn’t a big deal for four-wheelers but for two-wheelers where the tank full value is usually below that number, it’s a bit disadvantageous. So keep this in mind while you are fuelling next time. I will also be recommending cards based on this in the recommendation section
Fuel Loyalty Programs
Enroll in Fuel Loyalty Programs in India offered by various Oil Manufacturing Companies to earn rewards in addition to the above credit card rewards. It’s another unique article on TechnoFino that you would not be able to find anywhere. For more such quality content subscribe to our mailer list and be the first one to know about it.
Rewards Summary
| Credit Card | Annual Fees | Reward Rate On Fuel Spends* | Smart Transaction Range^ | Maximum Value Back Per Cycle | Ideal For Maximum Monthly Spends | Spends Required For Fee Waiver |
| AMEX Gold Charge | ₹4999+GST | Minimum 6.33% | 0/5,000 | Minimum ₹380 | ₹4000 | ₹50K |
| AMEX Membership Rewards | ₹4500+GST | Minimum 6.33% | 0/5,000 | Minimum ₹380 | ₹2500 | ₹50K |
| SBI BPCL Octane | ₹1499+GST | 6.25% | 0/4000 | ₹625 | ₹10,000 | ₹2L |
| IDFC First Power+ | ₹499+GST | 4% | 1000/5000 | ₹400 | ₹10,000 | ₹1.5L |
| BOB HPCL Energie | ₹499+GST | 4% | 0/6250 | ₹250 | ₹6250 | ₹50K |
| ICICI HPCL Super Saver | ₹500+GST | 4% | 0/5000 | ₹275 | ₹5000 | ₹1.5L |
| Union Bank Uni Carbon | ₹499+GST | 4% | 200/3750 | ₹206.25p | ₹3750 | ₹1L |
| ICICI HPCL Coral AMEX | ₹199+GST | 4% | 1000/4000 | ₹160 | ₹4000 | ₹50K |
| Kotak IndianOil | ₹449+GST | 4% | 1000/5000 | ₹300 | ₹7500 | ₹50K |
| Axis Bank IOCL | ₹500+GST | 4% | 1000/5000 | ₹200 | ₹5000 | ₹50K |
| Standard Chartered Super Value Titanium | ₹750+GST | 4% | 1000/2000 | ₹160 | ₹4000 | ₹90K |
- *Reward rate is exclusive of fuel surcharge waiver.
- ^We are giving a smart range for all the cards so that a user gets the dual benefits of a complete fuel surcharge waiver and reward points.
- For cards like SBI BPCL co-branded cards, BOB HPCL Energie, ICICI Supersaver, and Uni Carbon, we can avoid fuel surcharges even for transactions less than ₹1000 by using wallets of the various loyalty programs.
TechnoFino Recommends
If you are still confused about which one is the best for you. We will try to help you out but we can only broadly recommend some credit cards as the usage of every person is unique for fuel spending.
If you are holding an AMEX credit card then you purchase fuel using AMEX MRCC/ AMEX Gold Charge and get benefits up to 5%-8% by redeeming them for 24K gold collection.
If you commute on a two-wheeler then mostly for a tank full the amount ₹400-₹500 and monthly spends are usually between ₹2000-₹3000 for an average user. So for such users, I highly recommend BOB HPCL Energie or Kotak IndianOil. The fee waiver condition on this card will also be easy to meet if used only for fuel.
For car owners with a very low consumption limited to ₹3000 a month, BOB HPCL Energie or Kotak IndianOil makes a lot of sense due to its low annual fee waiver condition.
For consumers in the range of ₹3K- ₹6K a month I would again recommend BOB HPCL Energie. Also, Standard Chartered Super Value Titanium can be considered in this range which will give you the option to fuel at any OMC.
If your consumption is nearly ₹10K a month then SBI Octane is a no-brainer for you. And if you are crossing even that limit then you can club the spending with the recommendations given above with the SBI Octane Credit Card. With SBI’s generous sales offer and 2.5% reward rate on grocery and dining, you will easily cross the fee waiver threshold.
Which one is your favourite fuel card? Share your experiences and issues faced while redemption in the comments below.
Chief Editor, TechnoFino.
Personal finance nerd! Physics enthusiast and trainer. When not into Physics, he is minting points and hunting for the next best credit card for himself.
Bhai bajaj finserve kard apply kiya mujhe 35k limit mila mene 567 charge pay kiya tha mene bajaj ke baare galat sunati mene turant inactive karwaya mere 567 waapas aaya ab me active karna chahta hu please help
I’ve no Icici credit card. I’m using Axis Flipkart card from 1.5 yrs with limit of 95k & sbi Bpcl octane card from 6 months with limit of 2.4 lakh. I’m a state govt salaried person with gross 33k & net a/c credit 28k. SBI is my salary a/c. I’ve applied before 6 months for icici card with salary slip when gross salary below 30k ; but declined several times. I want to apply now for icici card. I’ve saving a/c in ICICI. which method is better chance of approval via salary slip or C2C basis. And which icici card is better chances of approval. plz help.
You can try applying on a card to card basis offline via your branch. Go for their Platinum Chip basic card and later go for an upgrade.
Hi,
Nice post and a lot of options. A lot !!
Hi Vysakh. I have already mentioned clearly all the cards that have the same bank POS condition. For SBI fuel cards there is no such condition. I have been getting accelerated rewards for swipe at any POS on BPCL pumps. If you don’t want to stick to one brand then simply go for StanC SVT card it will be ideal for your spending range and will work on non-PSU outlets too. Uni Carbon is also an HPCL co-brand card.
Hi sir, just wanted to know if bpcl is not mentioned on the charge slip when swiping at a bpcl outlet using SBI bpcl card, do we still be eligible for accelerated reward points?
Are you facing any problem related to this? I have always got the points hence never faced this issue.
You don’t need to spend citi iocl in citi machine. I’ve never seen a citi machine in iocl pumps. Still I’m getting accelerated rewards. Only condition is, the pump should be listed in citi provided official list.
I’ve been doing this for quite a few months.
Another card that is missed is Stanc Ultimate. 3.33% on fuel as well.
I have updated regarding the Citibank IOCL thing. StanC wont give you fuel surcharge waiver and equivalent reward rate would be close to 2% and hence doesnt deserve to be in the list.
[…] BPCL Octane Credit Card is one of the best rewarding fuel credit cards available in India from SBI Cards. I am reviewing all the details about the same and also some negatives of the card […]
[…] Although AMEX gives no rewards on fuel purchases still you can buy BPCL vouchers and redeem them at your nearest fuel bunk to get an exceptional reward rate of up to 20.66%! (Who Knows)! So it beats all our Best Credit Cards in India For Fuel Spends. […]
[…] Fuel Hack: Although AMEX gives no rewards on fuel purchases still you can buy BPCL vouchers using Reward Multipliers and redeem them at your nearest fuel bunk to get an exceptional reward rate of up to 26.66%! (Who Knows)! So it beats all our Best Credit Cards in India For Fuel Spends. […]