YPayX: employer-loaded, tax-free meal card and gift card for Indian companies, valid under the old and new tax regime.
Tax-free meal card
YPayX loads a tax-free meal card and gift card for your employees — funded by the employer, on one RuPay card. Employees take home ₹37,000+ more every year with no change to CTC. Live in 48 hours.
The employer loads the meal and gift wallets every month; employees spend anywhere RuPay works. Telecom, flex and canteen wallets can be added on the same card. One invoice for finance.
₹200 per meal, two meals a day, loaded by the employer for every working day (22 or 26). Tax-free under both the old and the new tax regime — and raised 4× from ₹50.
Diwali, performance, work anniversaries, festival bonuses. Load once or many times a year — tax-free till ₹15,000 per employee.
Mobile and broadband bills reimbursed as a nil-value perquisite for official use. Merchant-category checks mean no one collects paper bills.
Fuel, books & periodicals, learning, uniform, gadgets and health — for employees who stay on the old tax regime. Separate ledgers, one invoice.
A closed-loop canteen card that meets the labour-code canteen requirement for units with 100+ workers. Already live at sugar mills in western Uttar Pradesh.
One-time, non-reloadable RuPay gift cards with your branding. Order in bulk, load any value, hand them out at dealer meets or ship to customers.
From 1 April 2026 the meal benefit is available under the new tax regime too. This is the real math for a 30% slab employee. Fuel, books and learning only work on the old regime — we say so.
| Benefit | Monthly | Annual tax-free | Tax saved @30% | Tax regime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meal Card Core | ₹8,800 (22 days) | ₹1,05,600 | ₹32,947 | Yes — old & new |
| Gift Card Core | — | ₹15,000 | ₹4,680 | Yes — old & new |
| Core total (meal + gift) | ₹1,20,600 | ₹37,627 | ||
| Telecom & Internet | ₹2,500 | ₹30,000 | ₹9,360 | Yes — old & new, with bills |
| Fuel · Books · Learning | varies | up to ₹1,44,000 | up to ₹44,928 | Old regime only |
| With telecom added | ₹1,50,600 | ₹46,987 |
Tax saved includes 4% cess (30% × 1.04). Meal: ₹200 × 2 meals × 22 working days = ₹8,800/month; offices on 26 days load ₹10,400/month (₹1,24,800/year). Based on the Income Tax Act 2025 and Rule 15, Income Tax Rules 2026. Employer sets final limits. Illustrative, not tax advice.
Enter one employee's annual CTC. See how the salary structure changes, how much tax they save, and what their take-home rises by — before you touch payroll.
Assumes basic = 40% of CTC, HRA = 50% of basic, employer PF = 12% of basic, rest in special allowance. Meal = ₹200 × 2 × working days × 12. Benefits are carved out of special allowance only, so CTC stays the same. Marginal slab from FY 2026-27 rates; includes 4% cess. Illustrative — your payroll team sets the final structure.
We give HR a ready salary-structure template. Meal, gift and telecom are carved out of special allowance. Nothing added, nothing cut.
One Excel upload or HRMS sync. Employees finish video KYC on the app in 3 minutes. Virtual card instantly, physical card in 5 days.
Finance transfers one amount. We split it into each employee's meal and gift wallet. One GST invoice, auto-reconciled for your books.
Tap, swipe or pay online anywhere RuPay is accepted. Category rules keep every wallet compliant. Dashboard shows usage live.
YPay has issued prepaid cards to 19 lakh+ users across 250+ institutions since 2019. Benefits cards are our core product, not a cross-sell.
That is the whole price. No setup fee, no per-load charge, no insurance bundle you did not ask for.
Personalised company customisation (co-branded card) available — charges extra.
*GST as applicable.
Accepted at every POS and online store — not a closed partner list like old meal vouchers.
Issued with an RBI-licensed PPI partner. Employee money sits in a regulated wallet, never with us.
Bulk load, wallet-wise reports, exits in one click, Form 16-ready exports.
Cashback near your office that employees don't get on UPI or a normal card.
Tax savings matter above ₹12 lakh CTC. Below that, what matters is a safe, cashless way to give meals, festival bonuses and canteen access to every worker — shop floor to head office. YPayX does both on one platform.
| Feature | YPayX | Paper meal vouchers | Insurance-led platforms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it works | Any RuPay merchant, online + offline | Partner outlets only | Open network |
| Pricing | ₹400 per employee, one-time · no annual fee · personalised customisation extra | Printing + logistics | Bundled with insurance |
| Blue-collar / canteen card | Yes | Limited | No |
| Bulk co-branded gift cards | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| Hyperlocal merchant offers | Yes | No | No |
| Go-live time | 48 hours | 2–3 weeks | 1–2 weeks |
What a meal card is. A corporate meal card (also called a food card, meal voucher card or Sodexo-type card) is a prepaid card an employer loads every month for food and grocery spending. Under Rule 15(5)(a) of the Income Tax Rules 2026, meals provided by the employer up to ₹200 per meal (₹8,800 a month at 22 working days, ₹10,400 at 26) carry nil perquisite value — so that money is not taxed in the employee's hands.
Meal card in the new tax regime. From 1 April 2026 the meal benefit is available under both the old and the new tax regime. Earlier, Rule 3(7)(iii) of the 1962 rules blocked it for new-regime employees; the 2026 rules carry no such proviso. The same applies to the gift card up to ₹15,000 a year.
What is not available under the new regime. Fuel, books and periodicals, learning and uniform allowances are Section 10(14) exemptions and remain old-regime only. YPayX marks them so in every table, calculator and proposal.
How a flexible benefits plan (FBP) card works. HR carves the meal, gift and telecom amounts out of special allowance in the CTC; the company's cost stays the same, the employee's taxable salary falls, and take-home rises. Finance makes one monthly transfer; YPayX splits it wallet-wise and issues one GST invoice.
Canteen card for factories. Units with 100+ workers need a canteen under the labour codes. A closed-loop canteen card lets a plant run that canteen without cash, and works for contract and daily-wage staff with simple KYC — the same YPayX platform that serves ₹12 lakh+ white-collar employees.
Illustrative, not tax advice. Based on the Income Tax Act 2025 and Income Tax Rules 2026; consult your tax advisor.
Yes. From 1 April 2026, Rule 15(5)(a) of the Income Tax Rules 2026 treats employer-provided meals up to ₹200 per meal as a nil-value perquisite, with no exclusion for new-regime employees. The old ₹50 limit and the new-regime bar are gone.
₹200 per meal, two meals a day on working days. Most employers load ₹8,800 per month (22 days), which is ₹1,05,600 a year tax-free.
At the 30% slab, a meal card (₹1,05,600/year), gift card (₹15,000/year) and telecom wallet (₹30,000/year) save about ₹46,987 a year including 4% cess. Savings depend on the slab and regime; under the new regime there is no tax to save below ₹12 lakh taxable income — use the calculator above.
Yes. YPayX is an open-network RuPay meal and benefits card with ₹0 setup fee, a canteen card for blue-collar workforces, and bulk co-branded gift cards — not bundled with insurance and not limited to partner outlets.
Nothing is added to CTC — the meal and gift amounts are carved out of existing salary, usually special allowance. YPayX charges a one-time ₹400 per employee for the card; there is no annual fee and no hidden charge. Personalised company customisation (co-branded card) is available at an extra charge.
Anywhere RuPay prepaid cards are accepted — food delivery apps, supermarkets, restaurants, canteens and online stores. Each wallet is restricted to its category, so the meal wallet works only at food and grocery merchants.
HR stops further loads in one click. The employee can continue to spend the balance already loaded. Unused non-meal wallet balances can be taxed in full and final settlement as per your policy.
Yes. We onboard companies from 20 employees to 20,000, including factories and plants that need a canteen card for 100+ workers under the labour codes.
Cards are issued in partnership with an RBI-licensed prepaid payment instrument (PPI) issuer. YPayX runs the programme, dashboard and support; the regulated issuer holds the funds.
15-minute call. We show the exact tax savings for your salary bands and a go-live plan for this month's payroll.