ChatGPT Go one-year free access rolls out in India; users face issues in activating via UPI
New Delhi (PTI): ChatGPT Go's 12-month free access rollout in India on Tuesday witnessed significant user interest, but many reported difficulties activating the offer using their UPI credentials.
OpenAI introduced a 12-month, no-cost ChatGPT Go plan for Indian users, beginning November 4, 2025, as part of a limited-time promotion.
However, several users took to X (formerly Twitter) to complain about unsuccessful activation attempts.
Common grievances include repeated approvals of a Re 1 UPI debit without activation, applications getting stuck on the payment screen, and ongoing errors relating to valid UPI IDs and incomplete mandates, even when the payment authorisation appears to be successful.
According to OpenAI, enrolling in the ChatGPT Go free access offer requires adding a payment method (either a Credit Card or UPI), despite the absence of any subscription fee. It mandates a temporary charge of Re 1 at every billing cycle, which is immediately refunded.
The setup is designed to enable automatic billing for ChatGPT Go after the 12-month free promotion expires. Users are reminded that cancelling the subscription during the free period renders the offer void for that account.
“Excited for free ChatGPT Go in India, but UPI verification stuck! Invalid VPA error despite valid ID like myname@phonepe. Mandate not completing. Please fix UPI support ASAP!” a user wrote on X.
“I am facing the ChatGPT Go subscription payment issue using the UPI method. Even after confirming the upi payment it is stuck at the approved payment screen. Any fix or is it a bug ?” another said.
“Tried activating the new ChatGPT Go 12-month free offer today — but even after approving payment twice (Re 1 each time via UPI), the plan didn’t activate. The page shows Rs 0.00 total due, but still no access to ChatGPT Go. Anyone else facing this issue? @OpenAI, please check,” a third user said.
OpenAI acknowledged that UPI payments experienced a temporary disruption shortly after launch due to unexpectedly high traffic, which briefly overloaded its systems.
"Demand was so high it briefly overwhelmed our UPI integration. We've been working with partners to restore it quickly, and we're rolling availability back out," OpenAI said in a statement.
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Indigo flights chaos: SCR to run special trains to clear passenger rush
Hyderabad (PTI): The South Central Railway on Saturday announced that it would run four special trains to manage the surge in passengers resulting from the large-scale cancellation of IndiGo flights here.
The move comes as flyers face significant disruption and long queues at the airport due to the cancellation.
A press release from the SCR said it is running the special trains to clear the extra rush of passengers to Chennai, Mumbai and Shalimar (Kolkata) from Hyderabad today.
Meanwhile, as many as 43 outbound Indigo flights were cancelled from here on Saturday, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport sources said.
Similarly, 26 incoming flights are also likely to be cancelled during the day, they said.
The flight cancellations drew ire from passengers, who thronged the IndiGo counters at the airport demanding to know the exact situation.
“This is utter nonsense! Digiyatra done, message received that departure has been rescheduled ahead of the scheduled departure and now upon arriving at Hyderabad airport coming to know at the security checkpoint that Indigo flight is cancelled,” Tarun Singha, former Ministry of Defence spokesperson said in a post on X.
“But the thing is if you don’t shout they do nothing. Example at Hyderabad Airport, there was no staff no flight information for an hour. Then a fellow passenger started shouting on mic and an Indigo staff appeared finally,” a netizen said in a post.
On Friday, when IndiGo cancelled over 1,000 flights from across airports, its CEO Pieter Elbers apologised in a video message for the major inconvenience caused to passengers due to the disruptions.
In the one-way video communication, Elbers also said that the airline was expecting fewer than 1,000 flights on Saturday.
