Kotak Mahindra Bank Credit Cards 2026: The Lineup After the RBI Ban

Choosing a Kotak card by what you spend on

A quick pick list are below, then the detail and the cap that decides each one.

1. Food delivery, online grocery and OTT: Cashback+.
2. Entry-level rewards: League Platinum.
3. IndianOil fuel: IndianOil Kotak.
4. Movies at PVR INOX: PVR INOX Kotak.
5. UPI spends, if you already hold a Kotak card: Kotak UPI RuPay.
6. Clothes and lifestyle shopping: Zen Signature.
7. Flights and hotels: Air+.
8. High spenders: White or White Reserve.
9. No income proof: Dream Different, against an FD.

Cashback

Kotak Cashback+ pays 5% on online food delivery, online grocery and online entertainment such as movie tickets and OTT, 3% on fuel and 0.5% on everything else. The catch is a shared cap of 750 points (₹750) per billing cycle across all the 5% and 3% spends, which ₹15,000 of food and grocery orders alone would used up (5% of ₹15,000). Cashback expire one year after it's earned, and from 1 December 2026 you need 500 points to redeem instead of 100. The joining fee is ₹750 per the MITC, with ₹0 on the listing only as an offer, and the annual fee is waived at ₹2 lakh of spend. There's no cash advance on this card.

Entry rewards

League Platinum costs ₹499 per the MITC (the listing's ₹0 is an offer) and is waived at ₹50,000 of yearly spend. It earns 4 points per ₹150, 8 per ₹150 at travel agencies, airlines, electronics, durables and department stores, and 8 on everything once you cross ₹2 lakh in a card year. Spending ₹1,25,000 in each 6-month period gets you 4 PVR tickets or 10,000 points. The weak spot are the cash value, only ₹0.07 a point since 1 June 2025, so 8 points per ₹150 is about 0.37% (8 x ₹0.07 divided by ₹150). Needs ₹5 lakh a year and an address in one of ten listed cities.

Fuel

IndianOil Kotak (₹449) gives 24 points per ₹150 at IndianOil pumps, which Kotak calls 4% back, capped at 1,200 points or ₹300 a statement cycle. That cap is reached at ₹7,500 of IndianOil fuel (1,200 divided by 24, times ₹150). The 4% assumes 25 paise a point, but cash redemption on select products pays 20 paise since 1 June 2025, which makes it 3.2% (24 x ₹0.20 divided by ₹150). Grocery and dining earn 2% up to ₹200 a cycle, the fee is waived at just ₹50,000 of yearly spend, and this card are spared Kotak's fuel transaction fee. Axis Bank has an IndianOil card too, with a ₹5,000 monthly fuel cap, covered on our Axis Bank hub.

Movies

PVR INOX Kotak has no joining fee and a ₹499 annual fee that is never waived. You get one PVR INOX ticket coupon worth up to ₹300 for every ₹10,000 spent in a monthly cycle, with no upper limit, plus 20% off food and drinks and 5% off tickets at PVR INOX. At ₹10,000 a month that's 12 tickets a year worth up to ₹3,600 (12 x ₹300), against a ₹499 fee. Since 1 June 2025 rent, wallet and gaming spends no longer counts toward the tickets, and there's no fuel surcharge waiver.

UPI

The Kotak UPI RuPay card is lifetime free and virtual only, but only existing Kotak credit card holders can get it. It earns 3 points per ₹100 on UPI and card spends, which at the ₹0.07 cash value is just 0.21% (3 x ₹0.07 on ₹100). Cashback+ has a RuPay variant for UPI too, though UPI spends earns 0.5% even in its 5% categories, and IndianOil Kotak and Dream Different are RuPay cards as well.

Shopping

Zen Signature (₹1,500) earns 10 Zen Points per ₹150 on apparel, lifestyle, department stores and jewellery and 5 elsewhere, but all its points, base and bonus together, stop at 6,500 a cycle. At 20 paise for cashback, 10 points per ₹150 is 1.33% (10 x ₹0.20 divided by ₹150). Milestones add 7,500 points at ₹3 lakh and another 7,500 at ₹6 lakh of yearly spend, the fee go at ₹1.5 lakh, and domestic lounges need ₹75,000 of spend in a quarter.

Travel

Kotak Air+ (₹3,000) earns 2 Air Miles per ₹100, and 5 per ₹100 on flights and hotels booked through Kotak Unbox, with the extra miles capped at 15,000 a cycle. A Air Mile is worth ₹1 on bookings, up to 80% of the fare, or transfers 2:1 to airlines such as British Airways and United and 3:1 to Marriott. The MITC waives the fee at ₹4 lakh of yearly spend though the card page says no waiver is available, and forex are 2%.

Premium

White (₹3,000) and White Reserve (₹12,500) don't earn per transaction. They credit White Pass value as you cross annual spend milestones: on White, ₹2,000 at ₹2 lakh, rising to a total of ₹27,000 at ₹12 lakh, and on White Reserve, ₹5,000 at ₹3 lakh up to ₹2,50,000 at ₹100 lakh. The balance stay valid only 90 days after each card year and then resets to zero, so redeem on time. White Reserve adds unlimited lounges for primary and add-on holders and waives the rent, utility, fuel and wallet fees. White needs ₹1,00,000 of quarterly spend for 2 lounge visits from 1 April 2026, and asks for ₹25 lakh of income and an age of 28 to 60.

No income proof

Dream Different is secured by a Kotak FD of at least ₹10,000 (since 1 April 2025, up from ₹5,000) and up to ₹20 lakh. Kotak's own pages differ on details, so we use the MITC: a limit of 80% of the FD and an FD tenure of one year and a day, where the Kotak811 page says 90% and 181 days. From September 2026 billing cycles it pays 2% cashback in any cycle with ₹15,000 or more of eligible spend, capped at ₹500 a cycle (₹200 of it from UPI) and ₹100 a transaction. Close it within 90 days and you pay ₹170. IDFC FIRST's WOW! gives the full FD as limit instead, as our IDFC FIRST Bank hub explains.

Kotak charges, and why they vary by card

Kotak keeps one MITC for retail cards, dated 30 October 2026, but many of its charges depends on the card you hold. Add 18% GST to everything below.

Category fees by card

The utility and fuel thresholds are cumulative spends in a statement cycle. Wallet loads above ₹10,000 a cycle, online gaming above ₹10,000 and education through third-party apps cost 1% on every card except White Reserve. In rupees, ₹20,000 of rent cost ₹200 plus GST on most cards but ₹400 plus GST on White or Dream Different.

Interest and late fees

Most cards charge 3.75% a month (45% a year). Air+, White, White Reserve and a few others charge 3.50% (42%). The interest-free period run up to 51 days, 18 to 48 or 21 to 51 depending on your due date, and disappears if last bill wasn't paid in full. The late fee is charged when you pay less than the minimum due, and it follows the amount you owe:

Cash, over-limit and forex

Cash advances cost 2.5% with a ₹500 minimum on most cards. Dream Different charges ₹100 per ATM withdrawal and lets cash enjoy the interest-free period, while Cashback+ and the UPI RuPay card don't allow cash at all. Going over the limit costs ₹500 when you are ₹500 or more over. Forex is 3.5% on most cards and 2% on Air+, White Reserve and Dream Different, so ₹50,000 abroad costs ₹1,750 (3.5% of ₹50,000) or ₹1,000 (2% of it) before GST.

Bounces and other charges

• Cheque return: 2%, minimum ₹500. Auto-debit return: 2%, minimum ₹450 and maximum ₹5,000.
• Paying cash at a branch, and card replacement: ₹100 each on most cards.
• Minimum amount due: 1% of purchases and cash plus all EMIs, interest, fees and tax, with a ₹100 floor.
• Reward points expire after 2 years, Air Miles after 3 and Cashback+ cashback after 1.

Kotak's card changes, 2024 to 2026

2024: the RBI action

On 24 April 2024 the RBI used its powers under Section 35A to stop Kotak issuing fresh credit cards and onboarding customers online. Anyone who applied in those months, Kotak simply could not issued the card. Existing cards kept on working normal. Around the same time Dream Different began charging 2% plus GST on rent, from 15 April 2024 for new cardholders and 1 June 2024 for existing ones.

2025: back in business, then a portfolio reset

The RBI lifted the restrictions on 12 February 2025. Then on 1 June 2025 Kotak revised rewards across nearly all its cards, the biggest single change for cardholders in this period:

• Caps or no rewards on utility, insurance, government, education, rent, fuel, wallet and gaming spends.
• Lower cash values for points: League Platinum and UPI RuPay from ₹0.10 to ₹0.07, Zen Signature from ₹0.25 to ₹0.20, IndianOil Kotak from 25 paise to 20 paise.
• Narrower fuel surcharge waivers, for example ₹500 to ₹4,000 transactions and ₹3,500 a year on League Platinum.
• 1% fees on utility, fuel, wallet, gaming and third-party education payments above card-specific limits.
• Privy League Signature interest raised to 3.5% a month from 2.49%, and Zen Signature's domestic lounges tied to ₹75,000 of spend a quarter.

Dream Different also raised its minimum FD from ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 on 1 April 2025. For most cardholder, what it mean is simple: the same spend now earns less.

2026: tidy-ups and one big fee change

• 1 April 2026: Dream Different's reward points programme and milestone offer ended (points earned to 31 March 2026 redeemable till 30 September 2026); White lounge visits need ₹1,00,000 of spend in a quarter; education and transport no longer count for White Pass milestones.
• 1 September 2026: Dream Different joining fee ₹424 with no waiver, DCC at 2%, a ₹170 fee for closing within 90 days, and the new 2% cashback.
• 1 December 2026: Cashback+ minimum redemption up from 100 to 500 points.

We found no 2024 to 2026 change notice for Air+. White Reserve's lounge guest charge was revised to USD 35 from 1 October, but the page don't say which year.

Applying for a Kotak card

Online, you choose a card on Kotak's site, share your name, phone number, PAN and Aadhaar, finish a Video KYC call and receive a virtual card. Offline, apply at a branch or through Kotak's representatives. Dream Different goes through the Kotak811 app or website. White and White Reserve has no online Apply button; they come through Kotak programmes or your relationship manager.

Eligibility Kotak publishes

Kotak doesn't give one rule for all cards, and several card page give none. What is published:

• League Platinum: 21 to 60, ₹5 lakh a year, living in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi (with Gurgaon and Noida), Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai or Pune.
• White: 28 to 60, ₹25 lakh a year, in a similar list of cities without Navi Mumbai.
• PVR INOX Kotak: 21 to 60, income not published.
• UPI RuPay: 18 or older and already a Kotak credit card holder.
• Dream Different: 18 to 75, no income proof, a Kotak FD and an operative PAN.
• Cashback+, IndianOil Kotak, Zen Signature, Air+ and White Reserve: not published.

The documents list are standard: identity, age and address proof, income proof or employment details, and PAN. Since the RBI sets no minimum age or income, each bank decide its own, and only the bank decides whether to issue a card.

Protections from the RBI's rules

Kotak's 2024 episode was about IT systems, not cardholder rights, and the RBI's card Directions protect you at Kotak as at any bank. A card can't be sent without your explicit consent. You get a Key Fact Statement up front and written reasons if you are turned down. If you don't activate a new card within 30 days, Kotak must ask for OTP consent and close the account free of cost if you don't give it. You may change your billing cycle at least once. And a closure request has to be honoured within seven working days once dues are paid, with ₹500 a day payable to you for any delay.

Kotak customer care

Kotak's credit card helpline, 1800 4100, is toll free and work 24x7 for card service, cancellation and complaints about mis-selling or harassment. From outside India call +91 22 6204 2001, and report fraud on 1800 209 0000.

If your complaint isn't settled in 30 days, take it to the RBI Ombudsman. You'll find other Kotak numbers on our Kotak Mahindra Bank customer care page.

Kotak puts mis-selling and harassment complaints on the same 24x7 line, which matter because the RBI's rules are strict on both. Telemarketing calls may only be made between 10:00 and 19:00, recovery agents cannot intimidate you or shame you in public, and the bank must give you the agent's details. A card you don't use for more than a year can be closed once the bank informs you and you don't reply within 30 days, with the bureaus updated within 30 days after. If a refund leaves money on a closed card, Kotak has to move that credit balance to your bank account. Write down the date and reference of every call, it make an Ombudsman complaint much easier.