An architecture for A method for providing on-line charging in a network environment is provided that includes interacting with an application that is selected by an end user, and with a policy enforcement point to install corresponding policies that are inclusive of charging rules. The method also includes performing, via a policy server, on-line charging interactions on behalf of the selected application itself such that application-specific on-line charging for the application is enabled. In more particular embodiments, the policy server understands which application is interacting with it by use of application tokens, source, or service identifiers. Also, the application element can query the policy server indirectly to grant network resources and the policy server examines an end user's policy profile or a network-wide profile (or both) and recognizes that on-line charging applies to the selected application.