OpenAI’s ChatGPT Go free-year rollout in India faces a payment verification glitch; users report “Payment failed” errors while activating the one-year free plan.
ChatGPT Go Free Upgrade Faces Payment Failure Glitch Across India
OpenAI’s decision to make the ChatGPT Go plan free for a year in India triggered immediate demand — and, for many users, a frustrating snag at the payment step. Several subscribers who tried to activate the limited-time offer reported their transactions stalling and showing a “Payment failed” message despite entering valid card or UPI details. The error appears during the mandatory payment-method verification that OpenAI requires even for the free promotional year.
OpenAI introduced the Go tier as a lower-cost, higher-capacity alternative to its Plus plan, promising faster responses, expanded context and features such as image generation and file uploads. The free rollout coincides with OpenAI’s first Indian DevDay event in Bengaluru, and the company framed the move as a thank-you to India’s rapidly growing user base for ChatGPT. But the surge in subscription attempts appears to have strained verification systems, producing a widespread “payment failed” problem even when users had valid payment methods.
For now, OpenAI has not issued a formal statement clarifying the root cause or the timeline for a fix. User reports and tech community responses suggest two likely culprits: heavy traffic overwhelming the upgrade pipeline, and intermittent failures in the payment verification gateway used for UPI and card flows. Because a valid payment method remains a gating requirement — used to verify accounts and prevent abuse — the glitch is blocking many eligible users from claiming the free year unless it is resolved.
