Advice Needed: Ongoing Dispute With SBI Card Aurum Card Annual Fees

[Appal Naidu]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice on an ongoing dispute with SBI Card about the annual fee for my SBI Aurum card. Here’s the situation:

Background:

Card Upgrade: I upgraded from SBI Simply Save to SBI Aurum in May 2025.

Annual Fee Charged: On May 17, 2025, SBI charged me Rs. 9,999 + GST as the annual fee for Aurum. However, my previous Simply Save card’s fee cycle was in August.

Policy Issue: SBI’s website (under "Card Upgrade") states that the fee for an upgraded card should follow the existing card’s fee cycle (August for me). Instead, they charged it in May.

SBI's Reply: "We would like to inform you that We have shared your September 2024 statement and please refer to that , no annual fee was levied for Simply Save card due to Non Usage.

We do understand that it might get reversed on the basis of annual spends of 1 lac however first it needs to be levied and then reverse as per policy as nothing was charged at that time.

Hence, on activation the annual fee of SBI Aurum card was levied 9999+GST"

SBI’s Stance: They first said my Simply Save card was "blocked due to non-usage," so no fee was charged last year, and the Aurum fee was applied upon activation. Later (June 9, 2025), they repeated this, ignoring the fee cycle discrepancy.

My Argument: My Simply Save card was active, and I believe the fee was waived last year due to spending over Rs. 1 lakh (as per policy). I shared transaction proof and asked why the Aurum fee didn’t align with the August cycle.

Latest Update: I sent a follow-up email on June 10, 2025, but have received no response from SBI so far.

Payment Status: I’ve already paid the full statement amount, including the disputed fee.

My Concern:
I have no problem paying the annual/joining fee, as I'll be getting 40,000 Aurum Points (equivalent to Rs.10,000) —my issue is the incorrect timing of the charge, which contradicts SBI’s own policy and my account history.

Seeking Advice:
-Given SBI’s silence on my latest email, should I escalate this to the RBI Ombudsman?

-Has anyone dealt with a similar fee cycle issue after upgrading an SBI card? How did you resolve it?

-Any suggestions on next steps (e.g., waiting longer, contacting someone specific at SBI, etc.)?

I’d really value your insights or experiences.

Thanks in advance!

 

[helloworld]

I'm kind of confused what you're seeking here (apologies for not able to understand your post properly), but here are the general practices across various banks w.r.t annual and joining fees, check once and compare with your scenario and let me know where it went wrong..


Joining Fee: Any bank (be it pvt, public) charges the month where got approved. In your case its May.
Renewal Fee:

Direct cards not upgrades
- Usually for Pvt banks and Public banks: 12 months from the Card approved and 12 months cycle continues

Upgrades
- usually for pvt banks: 12 months from the Card approved and 12 months cycle continues.
- for public banks (sbicard, bob): Original card anniversary date (not upgraded one) but milestone benefits 12 months from upgraded date.

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Again, its joining fee and in SBICard terms they call it as 'annual fee'

tfbeginner210

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