URGENT: Gemini API issue: downgraded from Tier 3 to Tier 1 despite no failed payments

Google AI Studio
1

Hi,

I’m experiencing an issue with my Gemini API billing tier and would appreciate help understanding why this is happening.

My account was previously on Tier 3, but it has now been downgraded to Tier 1 twice within a few days.

The first downgrade occurred around 20 August 2026. I immediately made a manual payment, and the account returned to Tier 3. However, on 22 August 2026, it was downgraded to Tier 1 again.

My Google Cloud Billing account uses automatic postpaid payments. As far as I can see, there have been no failed, declined, invalidated, or rejected payments. When the second downgrade occurred, the outstanding balance was only approximately $30. I paid that amount manually, but this time the account has remained on Tier 1.

I also tried creating a new project and linking it to the same billing account after seeing this suggested in another forum post, but that did not resolve the issue.

Could someone from the Google team please help with the following?

  1. Confirm why the account has repeatedly been downgraded despite having no failed payments.
  2. Restore the account to its previous Tier 3 status.
  3. Explain what we can do to prevent this from happening again.

The reduced rate limits are affecting our customer subscriptions and business operations, so we would greatly appreciate an urgent review.

I can provide the relevant billing account and project details privately if required.

Thank you.

2

Hello @Reynard_Lowell ,
Sincere apologies for this issue. Please use this form to report sudden tier downgrades, our team will look into it: Gemini API Tier Downgrade Report Form

3

Hello Mahesh, when you say “our team will look into it” ? What does that mean exactly? When? This is a major issue and it’s happening to a lot of your users.