Request manual review — 403 PERMISSION_DENIED on free-tier projects (no billing)

Gemini API
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1

Hello Google AI team,

I need a manual review / unlock for free-tier Gemini API access. I do not want to enable paid billing.

Issue:

  • AI Studio Projects page shows Status: Restricted
  • Billing Tier shows: Unavailable
  • App API calls fail with:
    403 PERMISSION_DENIED
    “Your project has been denied access. Please contact support.”

Account:

  • Email: v....@gmail.com
  • Account type: Personal Google account
  • Region: India

Projects affected (both show Restricted / Unavailable):

  1. Project name: Ridepool
    Project ID: ridepool-49d..

Notes:

  • Google AI Studio Playground chat works
  • API key requests from my Flutter app fail with the 403 above
  • I created a brand-new project and it became Restricted immediately too
  • I want to stay on free tier only (no Cloud Billing / no paid upgrade)

Request:
Please unlock free-tier Generative Language / Gemini API access for my account/projects so API keys work without requiring billing.

Thank you.

2

Getting a 403 API error response and / or seeing “Unavailable” next to your project in AI audio indicates a flag has been placed on your account. To proceed:

  1. If you’re on the free tier with no billing attached, you should consider setting up billing. In most cases this is enough to clear any flag on your account. Please note this will mean you lose your free tier quota. You should also see a banner in AI studio prompting you to set up billing.

  2. If you are on a paid tier, check for banners / error callouts in the AI Studio Projects page & the Billing page. Mostly these flags cause visible banners or other errors on these pages with concrete next steps / appeal links. You can also check the email address associated with your project for information on next steps.