Oh man, you fell into the classic trap. Let me break this down:

Late fee: You paid AFTER the due date (15th), you paid on 18th. Doesn't matter if you paid more than minimum - you paid LATE. That's ₹800 gone.

Interest: You didn't pay FULL amount by due date. The moment you pay anything less than total outstanding, interest kicks in on the ENTIRE amount from purchase date.

Lesson: ALWAYS pay FULL amount by due date. The minimum payment option is a trap.

CRITICAL RULE NOBODY TELLS YOU: The "minimum amount due" is NOT what you should pay. It's the MINIMUM to avoid account closure. If you pay only minimum (or anything less than full), you lose interest-free period and get charged 3-3.5% PER MONTH (36-42% annually) on EVERYTHING.

The interest-free period only applies if you pay the FULL amount by the due date. If you pay even ₹1 less, interest is charged on the entire outstanding from the date of each purchase. This is the biggest scam that nobody explains clearly.

SMS charges can be disabled by calling customer care, but it's just ₹25. The real issue is the ₹800 late fee and ₹975 interest. That's where you got hit hard.

Here's what you should do NOW:

• Pay the FULL ₹8,476 immediately to stop interest from compounding
• Call Axis customer care and request one-time waiver of late fee (they often do this for first-time mistakes)
• Set up autopay for FULL amount (not minimum) immediately
• Never, ever pay just minimum again

Act fast - every day you delay, more interest is being charged.

I made the exact same mistake with my first card. Paid minimum thinking I was being smart. Next month's bill had interest on interest. Took me 4 months to pay off a ₹10k purchase that ended up costing me ₹14k total. Expensive lesson.

Simple rule to never forget:

Credit card bill due = PAY IN FULL by due date.

Anything else = you're taking a loan at 36-42% interest rate.

Would you take a personal loan at 40% interest? No? Then don't pay minimum on credit cards.

The due date is STRICT. Not a suggestion, not a guideline. Even one day late = late fee + loss of interest-free period. Set reminders 3 days before due date. I have 3 alarms set - one week before, 3 days before, and on the due date itself.

Going forward, set up autopay for full amount. Most banking apps let you do this. Then you never have to worry about due dates or paying minimum. Full amount auto-deducted from your bank account every month.

For the SMS charges - yeah you can disable it, but keep at least one form of alert active (app notifications or email). You need to track your spending. The ₹25 is annoying but the alerts are actually useful.

Download CRED or Paytm app and link your card there. They send push notifications as soon as bill is generated and again 3 days before due date. Much better than SMS alerts.

The interest calculation will blow your mind. Let's say you spent ₹10,000 on 1st of the month. Statement generated on 30th, due date is 15th of next month. You pay ₹9,000 (not full).

Interest is charged:
• On ₹10,000 from 1st to payment date (~45 days)
• On remaining ₹1,000 from payment date to next statement
• PLUS on any new purchases from the date of purchase

It compounds like crazy.