Amex India cuts Membership Rewards on fuel and utility bills

American Express India just closed the easiest points loophole in the country. Effective today, fuel spend earns a flat 1 Membership Rewards point per ₹100 — capped, no exceptions — and insurance premiums and utility bills (electricity, water, gas) earn zero.

These were exactly the categories that padded balances without effort: recurring, predictable, and until now paying standard points. Every household bills money anyway; routing it through an Amex was free MR. That trick is over.

The sting lands hardest on Platinum Travel and Gold Charge cardholders, who leaned on precisely these recurring categories to hit milestones and build balances. Amex made no noise about it — no dramatic announcement, just categories quietly falling off the earning table.

Our take: name the nerf. Zero points on utilities and insurance is a straight devaluation of everyday spend, and it changes the math on whether an Amex earns its fee for bill-payers. If your MR strategy was built on autopay, it’s time to move that spend to a card that still values it.