HDFC Bank’s update to the HDFC Regalia Credit Card is a clean rewards enhancement: dining earn rates rise from 4 reward points per ₹150 to 6 reward points per ₹150, effective May 1, 2026. The annual fee stays at ₹2,500, and the fee waiver still triggers on ₹3 lakh annual spend. Existing cardholders are auto-enrolled, so there is no application, activation, or promo-code requirement. With each point still worth ₹0.50, the effective dining return rises to 2%.
The change is easy to quantify. Earlier, 4 points per ₹150 translated to an effective 1.33% return on dining. After the change, 6 points per ₹150 translates to 2%. That is a 50% increase in points earned on restaurant spends, without any increase in the card’s annual fee or any reduction in point value. Because the upgrade is automatic, current HDFC Regalia users do not need to contact customer care or enroll through an offer page. New applicants will get the improved dining earn rate as part of the standard card proposition from the effective date.
For dining-heavy users, this makes HDFC Regalia more competitive against cards that focus on lifestyle and travel, including SBI Elite and Axis Magnus, especially when the goal is to maximize restaurant returns rather than lounge access. The card remains less specialized than merchant-specific products like HDFC Swiggy, but it is more versatile because the benefit sits inside a broader premium card package. The main winners are existing cardholders who already pay the ₹2,500 fee and can now earn more on the same restaurant spends. The update is clearly positive and does not introduce any hidden downgrade elsewhere in the structure.
To take advantage of the new earn rate, existing cardholders simply need to continue using the card at restaurants after May 1, 2026. New applicants should apply through the official HDFC Regalia page and note the annual fee waiver threshold of ₹3 lakh. The fine print to watch is that the point value remains ₹0.50, so the headline improvement is in point accumulation rather than redemption value. If you dine frequently and can also cross the fee waiver threshold, this is a straightforward improvement with no extra action required.