Best Fuel Credit Cards in India 2021

Annual Fee: Rs. 1,499 (waived off on spending Rs. 2 lakh in the previous year)

Minimum Income: Communicated at the time of application

BPCL SBI Card Octane  is a premium version of BPCL SBI Card and comes with additional advantages. With this card, you will get 7.25% value back i.e.  25X Reward Points (including a 1% surcharge waiver) on fuel and lubricant spends at BPCL Fuel Stations and a 6.25% value back on Bharatgas online payments on the website and mobile app. The rewards rate is excellent and undoubtedly of the best. The additional benefit on Bharatgas website and app is unique. This card clearly holds great value for those who prefer BPCL.

A good fuel credit card is one that offers a good combination of fuel-specific benefits and the surcharge waiver. In case of SBI BPCL Octane, if you spend Rs. 10,000 on fuel (at BPCL petrol pumps), you will be able to save Rs. 625 in the form of accelerated rewards. However, fuel surcharge is offered only up to Rs. 4,000, so in this case (though you have spent Rs. 10,000), you will be able to save Rs. 40 only. You must plan your fuel expenses in a way that you can fully utilize these features. For instance, you should use the card only at BPCL outlets because fuel purchases at other outlets are not even eligible for reward points.

Moreover, you should note that the benefits are offered in the form of rewards which you can redeem later. So, the more you spend on the right categories, the more you will be able to save. The card does give you a good start with a welcome bonus of 6,000 reward points (valued at Rs. 1,500 for fuel purchases at BPCL) but after that you will have to spend more to earn more.

Key Features and Benefits:

• 25 Reward Points per Rs.100 spent on BPCL Fuel, Lubricants & Bharat Gas (Website & App Only)
• 10 Reward Points on every Rs. 100 spent at Dining, Departmental Stores, Grocery & Movies
• 1 Reward point per 100 Rs. spent on other retail purchases (except Mobile wallet upload & Non-BPCL fuel spends)
• 6,000 bonus reward points equivalent to Rs. 1,500 on payment of the annual fee
• 6.25% + 1% Fuel surcharge waiver on every transaction up to Rs. 4,000 (applicable across all BPCL petrol pumps in India)
•  4 complimentary visits per calendar year to domestic VISA lounges in India
•  Gift Vouchers worth Rs 2,000 from partner brands on annual spends of Rs.3 lakh
• Complimentary Fraud Liability cover of Rs.1 lakh

Annual Fee: Rs. 1,000 (waived off on spending Rs.30,000 + annually)

Minimum Income: Rs. 25,000 per month

The IndianOil Citi Platinum Credit Card lets you earn reward points and save on your fuel purchases. Also you have the privilege to earn turbo points on all your expenses using this card. This card offers you with a welcome gift on the successful activation of your card. You are entitled to get a 250 worth of free fuel on the first spend on your card. The welcome gift will be given in the form of turbo points. Hence you will receive 250 turbo points which can be used further for fuel purchases.  

Be it fuel, grocery or any other spend, the card offers decent rewards to you. The accumulated points can then be used to get free fuel in the future.  If the majority of your work requires commuting on a daily basis, this card can be the right choice for you. With this you can easily save on your fuel purchases. In short, this card is one way by which you can earn free fuel.

Besides all that, for a fuel credit card, the surcharge waiver capping is lower than expected.

Also, the majority of fuel discount is available at IndianOil outlets only, which is again a somewhat restricted option. As you can see, it’s a decent credit card if you live in a metro city and just want one card for fuel, provided the IOC pump is nearby your location.

Key Features and Benefits:

• 4 Turbo Points for every Rs. 150 spent on IOC fuel stations
• 2 Turbo Points are earned per Rs. 150 spent at groceries and supermarkets
• 1 turbo point on every Rs.150 spend on all other spends
• Annual fee waiver on spending Rs. 30,000 in the previous year
• Up to 15% discount at partner restaurants across the country
• Earn up to 71 litres of free fuel annually (terms and conditions apply)
• 250 turbo points on 1st purchase within 30 days

Annual Fee: Rs. 500 (waived off on spending Rs. 50,000 in the previous year)

Minimum Income: Communicated at the time of application

IndianOil Axis Bank Credit Card gives you decent returns on fuel spends as well as other online spends. The 4% return on IndianOil fuel spends is very generous but the 0.02% rewards rate on offline spends is quite poor.  The 1% returns on online spends is really good for a card of this type and fee range.

It’s truly a good card that rewards you with 4% return on fuel spendings as edge rewards, which means easier redemptions too. The card is designed in such a way that it makes sense to get it if you have fuel spends in the range of Rs.4,000 – Rs.5,000 a month, with which you will also get annual fee waiver. Overall it is a rewarding card for beginners with pretty decent returns on online/fuel spends.

Key Features and Benefits:

• Welcome benefit includes cashback up to Rs.250 on all your fuel transactions 
• Earn accelerated reward points at IOCL fuel outlets on fuel transactions between Rs.100 and Rs.5,000 per month
• 4% value back on fuel transactions by earning 20 reward points per Rs. 100 at any IOCL fuel outlet in India
• 1% value back on online shopping
• 1% fuel surcharge waiver on fuel transactions between Rs. 200 and Rs.5,000
• Up tp 20% discount at partner restaurants
• 10% discount on booking movie tickets from BookMyShow

Annual Fee: Rs. 500 (waived off on spending Rs. 20,000 in a year)

Minimum Income: Communicated at the time of application

HDFC Credit Card is a beginner level credit card best suited for users seeking cashback on fuel. The card offers 5% cashback on fuel expenses, railway ticket bookings, groceries, bill payment, mobile recharge and spends on PayZapp / EasyEMI / SmartBUY. 

The card enables you to save up to Rs.3600 every year. So one can easily say, the more you purchase the more cashback will be awarded to you. However, the cashback categories are not that great in number when compared to other popular credit cards in the same fee range such as Axis Ace or Amazon ICICI Card. However, you must note that even the best cashback credit cards like those mentioned above do not offer benefits on fuel. So, for those who are looking for fuel benefits and are not bothered by the limits assigned to such earnings, this card can be the right choice. The card is also good for beginners and people with a low annual income range of Rs.2-4 lakh annually. 

Key Features and Benefits:

• 5% cashback on IRCTC ticket bookings, fuel, groceries, bill payment and mobile recharges
• 5% cashback on spends on PayZapp/EasyEMI/SmartBUY
• 1% fuel surcharge waived off at fuel pumps
• Save annually up to Rs.3600 by using the card
• Up to Rs.50 lakh complimentary accidental death insurance

Annual Fee: Rs. 499 (waived off on spending Rs. 50,000 in the previous year)

Minimum Income: Rs. 20,000 per month

BPCL SBI Card offers a 4.25% value-back (13X reward points) on fuel purchases at BPCL petrol pumps. The “13X Reward Points on fuel purchases at BPCL” simply means 13 Points and as the value of each point is Rs. 0.25, effective value out of 13X points = 3.25%. Apart from that, you can also get 5X points by spending on certain categories, which will save you 1.25% (5X points) which is an added advantage of the card. 

Just like the BPCL Octane card, you should only go for this card if the majority of your fuel purchases are from Bharat Petroleum outlets and you do not expect benefits across other categories. The more you spend on fuel and other extra reward categories, the more valueback you will get. If you wish to get a fuel credit card with low annual fee, this is the card to go for.

You can get SBI BPCL Credit Card through a completely digital process and in just 7 days*. Click here to apply.  

Key Features and Benefits:

• Welcome gift of 2,000 bonus reward points
• 13x reward points equivalent to 3.25% value back
• 5X Reward Points on every Rs. 100 spent on Groceries, Departmental stores, Movies or Dining
• 1 Reward Point for every Rs. 100 spent on non-fuel purchases
• 1% Fuel surcharge waiver on transaction up to Rs. 4,000 at any BPCL petrol pump

Annual Fee: Rs. 500 (waived off on spending Rs. 50,000 in a year)

Minimum Income: Rs. 10,000 per month

The IndianOil HDFC Bank Credit Card is focused majorly at users from non-metro cities and towns of India and is offered in Visa and Rupay variants. Using this card, you can earn ‘fuel points’ across all spending categories and use the same against fuel purchases at IndianOil Fuel Stations. The conversion into IndianOil XRP at the rate of 1 point = 96 paise is slightly dissatisfactory. It is adding an additional step of converting Fuel Points to XRP in order to purchase fuel but not giving the full value back of the points. Also, maximum fuel point earning in a month is limited to 250 which is way too less. This means you will only be able to get the benefit for a total fuel spend of Rs. 5,000 only. 

However, for someone looking for a low annual fee fuel credit card, this could be a good option. Keep putting fuel, groceries and utility bills on the card to make optimum use of its features and then use the accumulated points to get free fuel at select Indian Oil petrol pumps.

Key Features and Benefits:

• Fuel points at IndianOil fuel outlets by earning 5% of your spends
• 5% of your grocery spends and utility bill payments as ‘Fuel Points’
• 1 Fuel Point for every Rs.150 spent
• 1% surcharge waiver whenever purchased on fuel for a minimum transaction value of Rs.400
• Avail up to 50 litres* of free fuel in a year* using Fuel Points
• Convert Fuel Points into IndianOil XTRAREWARDSTM Points (XRP) which can be used to buy free fuel at IndianOil Petrol Pumps (1 Fuel Point = 96 Paise)

Annual Fee: Rs. 750 (waived off on spending Rs. 90,000 in the previous year)

Minimum Income: Rs. 55,000 per month

While most of the fuel credit cards are co-branded, this card from Standard Chartered Bank lets you save no matter where you refuel your vehicle. You get flat 5% cashback but limited only to Rs. 200 per month. This limit of Rs. 200, however, is a kind of drawback on the card. This is because fuel purchases are usually high value (given the high price). Now, even if you spend Rs. 4,000 on fuel once, it will exhaust your monthly limit of Rs. 200. Also, the income eligibility of Super Value Titanium credit card is Rs. 55,000 p.m. which makes the card out of reach for a number of customers. On a positive note, the card also gives 5% cashback on utility and phone bills and reward points on other expenses. 

This card is suited for those who make minimal fuel purchases in a month but are specifically looking for a card that rewards them for utilities and other purchases as well. However, those looking for high value back on fuel should perhaps look for other alternatives.

Key Features and Benefits:

• 5% cashback on fuel spends across all fuel stations up to a maximum of Rs. 200 per month
• 5% cashback on phone and utility bills
• 5X reward points for overseas point-of-sale spends
• 1 reward point for every Rs.150 spent on all other expenses
• You can get loan on your credit card up to Rs.7,50,000 in 2 days via NEFT

Annual Fee: Rs. 199 (waived off on spending Rs. 50,000 in a year)

Minimum Income: Communicated at the time of application

ICICI Bank HPCL Coral Credit Card lets you save up to 3.5% on fuel expenses and also rewards you with PAYBACK points on other eligible spends. Moreover, you can redeem the PAYBACK points for fuel at any HPCL Petrol Pump. With this card you will get 2.5% cashback on fuel purchases at HPCL pumps. For such a low annual fee, this fuel benefit seems satisfactory. And since the card does not shy away on giving rewards on other expenses, the overall benefits are up to the mark.

ICICI Bank HPCL Coral Credit Card bears special significance for those who own a personal vehicle and are looking for ways to reduce their fuel expenditure. You should only apply for this card if you are a loyal customer of HPCL and want a fuel credit card with low annual fee.

Key Features and Benefits:

• 2.5% cashback on fuel purchases at HPCL pumps
• Waiver on fuel surcharge at HPCL pumps on spends up to Rs. 4,000
• 25% off, up to Rs. 100, on movie tickets booked via BookMyShow
• 2 PAYBACK Points for every Rs. 100 spent on retail purchases, excluding fuel
• 2,000 PAYBACK Points can be redeemed for fuel worth Rs. 500
• 15% off on dining at over 800 restaurants via Culinary Treats program