If you signed up for the Perplexity Pro AI free trial through Airtel’s one-year plan, there’s an important update.
This week, many users received an email from Perplexity AI asking them to add a payment card (debit or credit) to continue using the free trial for 12 months.
Earlier, users could access the Pro features without providing any payment details, but the updated policy now makes adding a card mandatory to keep the trial active.
The email includes a direct link to the update payment page, making it easy for users to continue using the AI tools.
Why Did Perplexity Change Its Policy?
The Perplexity-Airtel Pro offer launched in July 2025, letting Airtel prepaid, postpaid, broadband, and DTH users sign up using their registered number and email.
At that time, no payment method was needed to access the trial.
The new change was communicated only through an email titled, “Action Required: Add a card to keep your Perplexity Pro trial.”
Perplexity says the update is meant to protect the free AI offer for legitimate users, suggesting some users were misusing the free trial.
The company also clarifies:
Your card will not be charged during the trial.
After the trial ends, the subscription will renew automatically unless cancelled beforehand.
Many users are unhappy with the sudden change, especially those who expected a completely free trial without any payment details.
How to Add Your Card for the Free Trial
If you want to continue using Perplexity Pro for free, follow these steps:
Check your email for Perplexity’s update notice.
Click on “Update card information”.
Enter your credit or debit card details.
Click Update to save the information.
If you don’t want to be charged after the trial ends, disable the auto-pay option in your account settings.
Perplexity Pro Features Worth Rs 17,000
The Airtel-Perplexity Pro offer gives access to premium AI tools valued at Rs 17,000, including:
Run thousands of searches
Choose from AI models like GPT 4.1, Gemini, Claude and more
Upload and analyze documents
Generate AI images using DALL-E and Flux
With Google and OpenAI also offering free AI plans, this update might push some users to reconsider their AI platform choice in India.
