PayMe Loan App Real or Fake? Lenders, RBI Fine and True Cost

PayMe is a real loan app, and the money comes from NBFCs on RBI's register. The first lender it names is ScaleUp Financial Services, a group company that used to be called PayMe India Financial Services. The app itself is run by Huey Tech Private Limited. Being real doesn't make it cheap, though. Fees of 2% to 10% come off the top, and PayMe's own 30-day example shows an APR of 98.19%.

Before you accept an offer, open the sanction letter and Key Fact Statement and find the lender's name. PayMe's terms say the NBFC is named there, so it can change from loan to loan. Then check the amount that will actually land in your account. For scores and a fuller look, read our full PayMe review.

The short version

• Is it real? Yes. "PayMe: Instant Loans Fast Cash" has 10M+ downloads on Google Play and was updated on 26 October 2026.
• Who lends? ScaleUp Financial Services, Finkurve Financial Services (Arvog) and Ruloans Financial Services. RBI's register for 30 September 2026 carries all three.
• Any RBI action? RBI fined PayMe India Financial Services, now ScaleUp, ₹2 lakh in June 2025. That was a penalty, not a ban.
• Cost: 18% to 36% a year on the Play listing, plus a 2% to 10% processing fee and GST.
• Main complaints: big deductions on small loans, slow payouts and frequent reminder calls.

Who's behind PayMe: the app company and its lenders

Two kinds of company sit behind PayMe. Huey Tech Private Limited, trading as PayMe, builds and runs the app. It's a loan service provider, not a lender. PayMe's about page says the business was founded in 2016, with Mahesh Shukla as founder and CEO.

The money comes from NBFCs. PayMe's Play listing names three:

• ScaleUp Financial Services Private Limited, formerly PayMe India Financial Services. It's a group lender, and its rate policy lists Mahesh Kumar Shukla as CEO.
• Finkurve Financial Services Limited, which trades as Arvog and is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
• Ruloans Financial Services Private Limited, a Mumbai NBFC.

The listing also says loans come through "NBFCs and banks". We found no bank named anywhere. Which NBFC funds your loan is shown only in your sanction letter.

How we checked PayMe's RBI registration, and how you can

1. Skip the app name and find the lenders. Huey Tech isn't an NBFC, so the names to search are the three lenders on the Play listing.
2. Search RBI's NBFC list. RBI's October 2026 edition shows the position on 30 September. ScaleUp is entry 6612 there, under the Kanpur office. Finkurve is entry 2341 under Mumbai, and Ruloans Financial Services is entry 6236, also Mumbai. None of them takes deposits.
3. See whether the lender owns up to the app. ScaleUp's own disclosure page names Huey Tech as its LSP and PayMe as its lending app. Arvog's page lists PAYME with Huey Tech as well. Ruloans' website wouldn't open for us, so its side is unconfirmed.
4. Try RBI's directory of digital lending apps. It timed out on 30 October 2026, so we couldn't see a PayMe entry ourselves. It may well load for you.
5. Look for RBI action. An RBI press release of 5 June 2025 reports a ₹2 lakh penalty on PayMe India Financial Services. The order, dated 3 June 2025, says it took public deposits against its registration conditions. It also changed more than 26% of its shareholding without RBI's written permission.
6. Search Sachet for any alert about an unregistered outfit using the PayMe name.

Our reading: the registrations are real and current. The penalty was about deposits and a change of ownership, not loan pricing or recovery. Still, it's fair to know about it.

What PayMe really charges

PayMe publishes more numbers than most apps, but its pages don't always agree. Here's what each source says as of October 2026.

Here's PayMe's own instalment example from Play. You borrow ₹20,000 for 6 months at 1.825% a month. The 3% fee is ₹600, plus ₹108 GST, so ₹708 comes off first and about ₹19,292 reaches you. You then pay ₹3,549 a month, or ₹21,297 in all. PayMe puts the APR at 34.80%.

The 30-day bullet loan is where it bites. On ₹15,000, the website shows a ₹750 fee, ₹14,115 paid out and ₹15,270 due a month later. The interest is only ₹270. But you hand back ₹1,155 more than you received. That's why the APR comes to 98.14% on the website and 98.19% on Play.

A few other terms are worth a look. ScaleUp's cooling-off period is 3 to 7 days, and a loan can be rolled over only once. The tenure also varies by page: 3 to 24 months on the loan page and up to 36 months on another. ScaleUp's own policy sets a daily rate between 0.10% and 0.15%, and says no customer pays over 55% a year.

Reasons people doubt PayMe

• One name, two companies. ScaleUp was itself called PayMe India Financial Services until it renamed, so older papers may use "PayMe" for the NBFC. PayMe's website even calls PayMe an NBFC, which isn't right for the app company.
• A 2025 RBI penalty. It turns up in searches and looks alarming. It's a fine, not a cancelled licence.
• Short single-payment loans. Google Play doesn't allow personal loan apps where the whole amount falls due in 60 days or less. PayMe's listing still shows a 30-day bullet example, and ScaleUp's policy describes bullet loans of 15 to 45 days.
• Mismatched data claims. On Play, the data safety panel claims PayMe passes no user data to other firms. Yet PayMe's privacy policy admits it reads financial SMS and hands data to lenders and analytics partners.
• Tough terms. Under the website terms, PayMe may keep tracking where you are after you delete the app, for as long as you owe money. Another clause forbids users from posting negative comments about PayMe.

What's normal here? A credit check, video KYC with a selfie, salary slips and a fee taken from the payout. Many NBFC apps work that way. What matters is the size of the fee, and that's in your KFS.

PayMe reviews: what borrowers report

As of 30 October 2026, PayMe shows 4.4 stars from 2.02L reviews on Google Play, which is about 2,02,000. The newest reviews tell a split story.

Many recent five-star ratings are a word or two, such as "good", and they arrive in bursts. Some five-star posts even describe a fault, like an OTP that never came. That pattern often follows in-app rating prompts. So give more weight to the written complaints than to the average.

The detailed one-star reviews repeat a few themes:

• Deductions: one borrower took ₹4,000 for a medical bill and says roughly ₹3,200 was credited, with ₹4,096 due soon after. Another got ₹4,800 from ₹6,000.
• Delays: payouts still pending four or five days after approval.
• Calls: one user reports calls 4 to 5 times a day from 10 days before the due date. Another counted about 20 calls in a day.
• Limits: a repeat borrower says the limit fell after repaying on time.

Developer replies are mostly templates that point to priority.support@paymeindia.in.

How to tell the real PayMe from a fake

On Google Play, the genuine app is "PayMe: Instant Loans Fast Cash" with Huey Tech Pvt Ltd as developer. Match that name before you tap install. A search for "payme loan" also shows "PayMe - Claim Your Money", a US class-action claims app. It isn't a lender at all.

Never install a PayMe APK sent by SMS or WhatsApp. A file from outside Play skips the store's checks. A fake copy can collect your KYC documents and read your contacts.

Other warning signs:

• Personal UPI IDs. PayMe's disclaimer says it never gives a personal bank account or UPI ID for repayment. Pay inside the app only.
• Fees asked by phone. PayMe takes its processing fee out of the payout. A caller who wants money first isn't following PayMe's process.
• The ₹89 Credit Assist offer. This is a real, optional PayMe service aimed at people it turned down. Reviewers complain of paying for checks like this and still being refused, so think twice.
• Calls to your contacts. PayMe's FAQ warns that staff may approach the references you gave when they can't get hold of you. Threats, or calls to people who aren't your references, are worth reporting.

Problem with a PayMe loan? Who to contact

• Customer care: 0120-697-1400, 10 am to 6 pm, Monday to Saturday. The contact page calls it toll free, but it's a Noida landline.
• Email: support@paymeindia.in. Play lists grievance@paymeindia.in as its support address instead.
• Level 1: raise a ticket in the app. The fair practice code says replies come Monday to Friday, 10 am to 6 pm.
• Level 2: if nothing moves in 7 working days, email support@paymeindia.in. The Level 2 grievance officer is Tinku Bhati, at grievance@paymeindia.in or +91 9319738611.
• Lender: ScaleUp's grievance officer is Shalini Rai, +91-9319738610, grievance@scaleupfinancial.com. Its nodal officer is Manav Munjal, 9891903339.

Save screenshots and every ticket number as you go. A month on with no fix, PayMe and its lender have had their chance. RBI's Integrated Ombudsman takes over from there: lodge it on cms.rbi.org.in or phone 14448. A fake agent took cash from you? Dial 1930 that same day. Every number is on our PayMe customer care page.

Is PayMe right for you?

PayMe may work if you're salaried and aged 21 to 58, with salary credited to your bank and PF deducted on your payslip. You'd also need to live in one of its six regions: Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru or Chennai. It makes most sense for a gap you can repay over a few EMIs.

Skip it if you're paid in cash, live outside those cities, or need a small sum for just a month. That's where the fee eats the most. If constant reminder calls would stress you, that's another reason to look around.

For comparison, read our reviews of Fibe, KreditBee and MoneyView. Each lends through RBI-registered NBFCs. Our full list of loan app reviews has more.

FAQs on PayMe

Is PayMe a real loan app or fake?

PayMe is real. Huey Tech Private Limited runs the app, and loans come from RBI-registered NBFCs, including its group lender ScaleUp Financial Services. The app has 10M+ downloads and 4.4 stars on Google Play as of October 2026. It isn't fake, but it can be costly, and many recent reviews complain about deductions and repeated calls.

Which RBI-registered NBFC lends through PayMe?

Three NBFCs appear on PayMe's Play page. First comes ScaleUp Financial Services, the old PayMe India Financial Services, at entry 6612 in RBI's register for 30 September 2026. Finkurve Financial Services (Arvog) is entry 2341, and Ruloans Financial Services is entry 6236. ScaleUp and Arvog both name PayMe on their own disclosure pages. Your sanction letter shows which one funds your loan.

What does a PayMe loan really cost?

Interest on Play is shown as 18% to 36% a year. On top of that, a processing fee of 2% to 10%, with GST, is cut from the payout. PayMe's own 6-month example on ₹20,000 has an EMI of ₹3,549 and an APR of 34.80%. Its 30-day bullet example on ₹15,000 has an APR of 98.19%. Short loans cost the most, so read the KFS before you accept.

Why did PayMe credit less than my loan amount?

PayMe deducts the processing fee and GST before it pays out. In its website example, a ₹15,000 loan has a ₹750 fee and ₹14,115 reaches the borrower, though ₹15,270 is due. Reviewers describe bigger gaps on small loans, such as ₹3,200 received from ₹4,000. Your Key Fact Statement must show the net amount before you sign.

What is PayMe's customer care number?

Call 0120-697-1400 between 10 am and 6 pm, Monday to Saturday. That's the PayMe customer care line. You can also email support@paymeindia.in or raise a ticket in the app. If that doesn't work within 7 working days, contact grievance officer Tinku Bhati at grievance@paymeindia.in. Our PayMe customer care page lists the lender's contacts too.

Is PayMe allowed to call me so many times?

Reminder calls are legal, but harassment isn't. PayMe's FAQ admits its staff may ring the people you listed as references when you go quiet. If calls turn abusive or reach people who aren't your references, note the dates and numbers. Then complain to grievance@paymeindia.in and ScaleUp's grievance officer. After 30 days, go to the RBI Integrated Ombudsman. Report threats to the police, and call 1930 if a fraudster took money.

How do I close or cancel a PayMe loan?

You can repay early. ScaleUp's policy says it charges no foreclosure fee. Its cooling-off period, the window to back out of a new loan, is 3 to 7 days. Ask in the app for the exact closing amount, pay only through the app, and keep the no-dues message for your records.

Did RBI penalise PayMe?

Yes, the lending arm. In an order dated 3 June 2025, RBI fined PayMe India Financial Services, now ScaleUp, ₹2 lakh. It had accepted public deposits against its registration conditions and changed over 26% of its shareholding without approval. It still appears in RBI's register for 30 September 2026. It was a fine, not a ban.

Sources: PayMe's Play Store page with its data safety section, checked October 2026; PayMe India's website, terms, privacy policy and fair practice code, October 2026; ScaleUp Financial Services' site and lending policies, October 2026; the Arvog (Finkurve) disclosure of lending apps, October 2026; RBI's register of NBFCs, position at 30 September 2026; RBI's June 2025 press release on the PayMe India Financial Services penalty; Google's Play Console help page on personal loan apps, October 2026.