Best Cashback Credit Cards in India 2026: The Cap Decides the Winner

Nine cashback cards, grouped by what they cost

Fees are plus 18% GST unless we say otherwise, and each card comes with the one figure that decides it.

No annual fee

Amazon Pay ICICI Bank has no joining or annual fee. Prime members get 5% on Amazon.in with no cap stated (3% without Prime), bills and recharges through Amazon Pay get 2%, the rest 1%. Deciding figure: that uncapped 5%. Getting one is the hard part, ICICI calls it a invite only programme and asks a monthly income of at least ₹30,000.

Around ₹500 a year

Flipkart Axis Bank, ₹500: Myntra 7.5%, Flipkart and Cleartrip 5%, Swiggy food orders, Uber and PVR 4% uncapped, the rest 1%. Since 20 June 2025 each of Myntra, Flipkart and Cleartrip is capped at ₹4,000 a statement quarter and the lounge visits was taken away. Deciding figure: a ₹3,50,000 yearly waiver, the highest here.

Swiggy Ornge HDFC Bank, ₹500 (waived on ₹1.5 lakh), came in March 2026 as the new Swiggy co-brand. It pays 5% on the Swiggy app and a merchant list that include Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra and Nykaa, up to ₹1,500 a billing cycle, and 1% on most other spends up to ₹1,000. Deciding figure: ₹30,000 of eligible spend to fill the 5% cap (₹1,500 divided by 5%).

HSBC RuPay Cashback, ₹499 (reversed with GST above ₹2 lakh), gives 10% on dining, food delivery and grocery and 1% elsewhere, and being RuPay it earn on UPI too. Deciding figure: ₹400, the monthly ceiling for the 10% and the 1% together, reached at only ₹4,000 of category spend.

Airtel Axis Bank, ₹500 (waived on ₹2 lakh), pays 25% on Airtel bills and 10% on other utility bills paid in the Airtel Thanks app, 1% elsewhere. Deciding rule, from 12 April 2026: the 25% is capped at twice your 1% base cashback of that statement month and the 10% at once the base, so without other spending the bill cashback shrink to nearly nothing.

₹750 to ₹1,000 a year

CASHBACK SBI Card, ₹999 (reversed on ₹2 lakh), gives 5% on online spends with no merchant list and 1% offline. From 1 April 2026 each part is capped at ₹2,000 a statement cycle, ₹4,000 in total. Deciding figure: ₹40,000 of online spend in a cycle before the 5% runs out (₹2,000 divided by 5%).

HSBC Live+, ₹999 (reversed with GST above ₹2 lakh), pays 10% on dining, food delivery, grocery, shopping and utility spends and 1.5% on most others. Deciding figure: ₹1,200 a month, hit at ₹12,000 of category spend. Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra sits outside the 10%, at 1.5%, and since 26 July 2026 foreign currency spends earn nothing.

HDFC Bank Millennia, ₹1,000 (waived on ₹1 lakh, the lowest here), pays 5% on ten merchants including Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Swiggy and Zomato, up to 1,000 CashPoints a calendar month, and 1% on other spends up to another 1,000, each CashPoint worth ₹1. Deciding figure: ₹50 plus GST on every statement-credit redemption since 1 August 2024, so better you redeem in big lots.

Kotak Cashback+, ₹750 (waived on ₹2 lakh), gives 5% on online food delivery, grocery and entertainment, 3% on fuel and 0.5% elsewhere. Deciding figure: one ₹750 cap each billing cycle, shared it is by all three boosted categories. It is the only card of the nine paying anything on fuel.

One ₹30,000 month, run through all nine

Our sample month: Amazon ₹5,000, Flipkart ₹3,000, Myntra ₹2,000, Swiggy ₹4,000, supermarket groceries ₹8,000, restaurants ₹2,000, electricity ₹2,000, an Airtel mobile bill ₹1,000 and fuel ₹3,000. A year of it is ₹3,60,000 (₹30,000 times 12), which clears every fee waiver here, Flipkart Axis Bank's ₹3,50,000 only just.

• HSBC Live+: groceries, Swiggy, restaurants and electricity, ₹16,000 at 10%, is ₹1,600, cut to the ₹1,200 cap; Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra, ₹10,000 at 1.5%, add ₹150. Total ₹1,350. The mobile bill we left at zero, it could add ₹15 at most.
• Swiggy Ornge: Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra and Swiggy, ₹14,000 at 5%, is ₹700; groceries, restaurants and bills, ₹13,000 at 1%, is ₹130. Total ₹830.
• Millennia: the same ₹14,000 gives 700 CashPoints and the ₹13,000 gives 130, so ₹830, less 4 quarterly redemptions at ₹59 (₹50 plus 18% GST), ₹236 a year.
• CASHBACK SBI Card: the same ₹14,000 online at 5% is ₹700, groceries and restaurants (₹10,000) at 1% is ₹100, and bills and fuel is excluded. Total ₹800.
• Airtel Axis: 1% base on ₹24,000 (all but the two bills and fuel) is ₹240. The Airtel bill at 25%, ₹250, fits under twice ₹240 (₹480), and electricity at 10%, ₹200, fits under ₹240. Total ₹690.
• Flipkart Axis: Myntra ₹150 (7.5%), Flipkart ₹150 (5%), Swiggy ₹160 (4% of ₹4,000) and ₹15,000 of Amazon, groceries and restaurants at 1%, ₹150. Total ₹610.
• Amazon Pay ICICI (Prime): Amazon ₹250 (5%) plus ₹19,000 at 1%, ₹190. Bills paid outside Amazon earn nothing since 11 October 2025. Total ₹440, or ₹500 if the ₹3,000 of bills go through Amazon Pay at 2%.
• HSBC RuPay Cashback: ₹14,000 of Swiggy, groceries and restaurants at 10% would be ₹1,400, but the ₹400 ceiling stop it. Total ₹400.
• Kotak Cashback+: Swiggy ₹200 (5%) and fuel ₹90 (3% of ₹3,000) sit inside the ₹750 cap; the other ₹20,000 of shopping, groceries and restaurants at 0.5% is ₹100, and bills get nothing. Total ₹390.

In the table the year is the month times 12, and year one takes off the fee with 18% GST.

From year two every fee is reversed at this spend. Welcome offers are left out, such as Live+'s ₹1,000 cashback for spending ₹25,000 in the first 30 days. Now move the ₹8,000 of groceries to Amazon: SBI earns 5% on ₹22,000 (₹1,100) plus ₹20 on restaurants, ₹1,120, while Live+ drops to ₹800 from its 10% categories plus ₹270 (₹18,000 at 1.5%), ₹1,070. A small shift change the winner, that is why you should run your own statement through this.

Caps, exclusions and the cuts of 2024 to 2026

Every cap has its own clock. SBI Card counts per statement cycle, Millennia per calendar month, Swiggy Ornge and Kotak per billing cycle, Flipkart Axis Bank per statement quarter, and for Live+ HSBC just says a month without telling which kind. A quarterly cap soaks up one big festival month; a monthly one throws away headroom you didn't use.

What earns nothing. Rent, fuel and wallet loads are excluded nearly everywhere. Utility bills is the big split: SBI, Flipkart Axis, HSBC RuPay Cashback and Kotak pay nothing on them, Live+ counts them at 10%, Amazon Pay only through Amazon. SBI Card added gaming, tolls and government payments on 1 April 2026, and on Millennia the ten merchants paid through SmartBuy or PayZapp earn just 1%, which catch many people out.

The cuts to know

• CASHBACK SBI Card: ₹2,000 online and ₹2,000 offline caps per cycle from 1 April 2026.
• Flipkart Axis Bank: quarterly caps and no lounge visits from 20 June 2025, welcome voucher cut from ₹500 to ₹250.
• Airtel Axis Bank: caps tied to base cashback from 12 April 2026, and the old 10% on Swiggy, Zomato and BigBasket became value back on Zomato, Blinkit and District Movies, ₹200 a partner a month at most.
• HSBC Live+: foreign currency spends earns nothing from 26 July 2026, though forex markup fell to 1.99%.
• Amazon Pay ICICI Bank: no rewards on rent from 18 June 2024, nor on education, international spends or non-Amazon utilities from 11 October 2025.

Fees that cancel the cashback. Some payments now costs more than they earn. SBI Card charges ₹199 plus taxes on each rent payment, ₹234.82 with GST, for zero cashback. Axis adds 1% once utilities cross ₹25,000 in a statement cycle, and HDFC Bank 1% on rent up to ₹4,999 a transaction. Kotak's minimum redemption go up from 100 to 500 points on 1 December 2026 and its cashback expires a year after it is earned.

Which cashback card fits you

Income and city first. Both HSBC cards want ₹6 lakh a year salaried, ₹12 lakh self-employed, and an address in one of 21 listed cities. HDFC Bank asks over ₹25,000 gross a month for Millennia and over ₹20,000 net for Swiggy Ornge, Amazon Pay ICICI Bank ₹30,000 a month plus an invite. SBI Card publishes no minimum for any card and Axis gives only a general ₹15,000 a month. The final call always stay with the bank.

Then the fee. Divide the waiver by 12: ₹1 lakh is about ₹8,333 a month (Millennia), ₹1.5 lakh ₹12,500 (Swiggy Ornge), ₹2 lakh about ₹16,667 (SBI, HSBC, Airtel Axis, Kotak) and ₹3,50,000 about ₹29,167 (Flipkart Axis). Below that, count the full fee against the cashback. For no fee at all, our lifetime-free picks list the cards that actually stays free.

Then your mix.

• Groceries and food delivery biggest: HSBC Live+.
• Online across many sites: CASHBACK SBI Card; our online shopping picks add points cards and store co-brands.
• Swiggy plus Amazon or Flipkart: Swiggy Ornge, or Millennia for a ₹1 lakh waiver if the redemption fee don't bother you.
• Mostly Myntra and Flipkart: Flipkart Axis Bank, if spend reach ₹3,50,000 a year.
• A family on Airtel: Airtel Axis Bank, used for shopping too so the base keeps the cap open.
• UPI at shops: HSBC RuPay Cashback, within ₹400 a month. Petrol plus food delivery: Kotak Cashback+.

Two cards can beat one. In our month, Live+ for groceries and Swiggy (₹12,000, filling its ₹1,200 exactly) plus SBI for Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra (₹10,000 at 5%, ₹500) and restaurants (₹2,000 at 1%, ₹20) gives ₹1,720 against ₹1,350 on Live+ alone, at the cost of two fees till the waivers kicks in. See how cashback cards work for the mechanics and HSBC Live+ vs SBI Cashback for the head to head.