Payment Issues in India – No Manual ‘Pay Now’ Option for GitHub Copilot

[uchitchakma]

Discussion Type

Product Feedback

Discussion Content

I’m from India and have been using GitHub Copilot along with an additional budget for Claude Sonnet. However, I’m unable to make payments because GitHub only supports automatic payments after adding a card. Due to RBI guidelines, none of my cards allow auto-debit. Every time I add a new card, GitHub attempts to charge it, but the payment is immediately declined by the bank with a message like “Due to RBI guideline this payment is declined.”

I even contacted my bank, but they couldn’t provide any solution. What’s surprising is that GitHub doesn’t offer a simple “Pay Now” button for manual one-time payments. I raised a support ticket about this more than two weeks ago, but I haven’t received a response, and meanwhile my services have been suspended. It’s disappointing that such a large company doesn’t provide proper support for payment issues.

[ikrishanaa]

Yes, the issue arises from the e-mandate rules put in place by the RBI. Currently, GitHub supports auto-renewals for recurring subscriptions and there is no manual "Pay Now" option yet. But what I have seen were a couple of workarounds like raising billing support tickets or using an international virtual card that accepts recurring payment; this really needs to be addressed, and the easiest way would be for GitHub to add one-off payments, which I suggest you put under Product Feedback.

[boboreaper]

Some services like Wise, Niyo, or HDFC Forex cards work for international subscriptions.
They often bypass the RBI recurring mandate issue because they operate differently than domestic cards.
Use PayPal (if GitHub supports it for your account)
Check if your GitHub account lets you link PayPal as the payment method.
PayPal sometimes succeeds where cards fail because the recurring mandate applies differently.

[uchitchakma]

In India Wise Card is not supported. The only payment option to add in Github is Card, and nothing else, no PayPal. HDFC Forex Card, Niyo I don't have currently, I will try to apply those cards.

[ArpitChoubey]

Hi @uchitchakma,

This is a known issue for many users in India because of the RBI’s recurring payment guidelines (mandating AFA – Additional Factor of Authentication). Since GitHub Copilot currently uses an automatic recurring billing system, payments often fail if the bank blocks auto-debits without a “Pay Now” manual option.

Here are a few things you can try:

Use an International Card (with recurring enabled)

Some users in India have reported success with HDFC, ICICI, or SBI credit cards that support recurring international payments.

You may need to explicitly request your bank to enable international recurring transactions.

Try Virtual Cards / UPI-linked Cards

Services like HDFC Forex Card, Niyo Global, or SBM cards sometimes work better since they’re treated as international payment cards.

UPI itself isn’t supported yet for GitHub, so only card-based payments will go through.

Check if Student/Teacher Benefits Apply

If you are eligible, you can get GitHub Copilot for free via the Student Developer Pack or Teacher benefits here: https://education.github.com/pack
.

Raise a Billing Support Ticket (Direct Link)

Instead of the general support form, raise it through GitHub’s billing support: https://support.github.com/contact/billing
.

Mention clearly: “Unable to pay due to RBI recurring guidelines – need a manual payment option.”

Alternative Access

If you need Copilot immediately, you can also use GitHub Codespaces with Copilot enabled or consider JetBrains AI Assistant (if you’re on JetBrains IDEs), which sometimes has different payment gateways.

👉 Unfortunately, GitHub hasn’t yet introduced a manual ‘Pay Now’ button for one-time payments in India, but raising feedback (as you did here) helps bring visibility. Many Indian developers are facing the same issue, so hopefully GitHub expands its payment options soon.

Hope this gives you some clarity and temporary alternatives.

[mecodeatlas]

Thanks for posting in the GitHub Community, @uchitchakma!

We're happy you're here. You are more likely to get a useful response if you are posting your question in the applicable category, the Discussions category is solely related to conversations around the GitHub product Discussions. This question should be in the Copilot Conversations category. I've gone ahead and moved it for you. Good luck!

[uchitchakma]

Thank you

[TeamSportsSocial]

Hi Uchit,

Have you found any way out? We are facing the same problem and not able to use the services.

[uchitchakma]

Nope, I am in my process of making international card🤣[seriously though]

[jtr1729]

@TeamSportsSocial @uchitchakma
I got the following link from customer support. Try and see if it works:
https://github.com/settings/billing/bill_pay

[uchitchakma]

Yes initially it didn't work when I tried with Kotak Card, but I just tried again with One Card and it worked.

[softwaredementor]

@TeamSportsSocial @uchitchakma I got the following link from customer support. Try and see if it works: https://github.com/settings/billing/bill_pay

You are such a life saver ! I was looking for this info. Helped me to clear overdues and use unlock my Github copilot account now. God bless you <3

[jvkrakowski]

@TeamSportsSocial @uchitchakma I got the following link from customer support. Try and see if it works: https://github.com/settings/billing/bill_pay

It says no bill to pay, but I'm staring at a series of invoices I need to pay. Where's the actual "Pay Now" button? My card isn't locked, and it was the right card, but my subscriptions never get through? I've been trying to get through to support about this, and Github has NOT been helpful. Has anyone found an alternative service? Pay Now button is essential.

[tinusoftwares]

If I cancel my one year subscription just because github is not providing solution for extra charges payment then how much time it will take to get refund?

[jvkrakowski]

I'm in the states, and I need a Pay Now button. I've already brought up my issues with billing, but haven't gotten any help on this. My card isn't locked, but for some reason GitHub can never just charge my card. It still irritates me that I asked for a pay now option four months ago with no reply. WTF is GitHub up to that we can post about this issue multiple times in the support community with no reply from the team? WTF are you guys up to? When are we going to be able to pay for our stuff? I don't have time to play tag over this. Just give us the damn button already, so we can get this sorted out. I was willing to be calm about this till I saw so many other people that can't get their accounts paid up either. Is there a reason you don't want us giving you money?

[souvik0306]

I was facing the exact same issue with my ICICI Bank and SBI Credit Cards. None of them worked and after reading how slow GitHub support was, I simply decided to use my Singapore-based Debit Card to clear the payment. There has to be a better approach than this

[madhanravi17]

Hi,

I was able to make the payment using Apple funds in Github ios Mobile app without any issues.

[shubhamsaurav14]

Payment is really a challange, i am not able to pay, really taking me too much time to find any option to pay.

https://github.com/settings/billing/bill_pay <>