Archive · 17 Nov 2025
Indian Student Faces Rs 1 Lakh Google Cloud Bill for College Project
A student in India was told by his college to use a service called Google Cloud for a school project.
He only used it for the specific project work.
However, he suddenly got a huge bill for almost 100,000 Indian rupees.
Now, a company that collects debts is sending him notices.
The student says his college isn't helping him, so he asked for advice from other computer experts online.
They think he might have accidentally left a tool running that cost a lot of money, or that Google might forgive the charges since it was for school.
He is asking for help to figure out if he really has to pay this big bill.
An Indian college student, Girish Naik, was billed nearly Rs 1 Lakh for using Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for a mandatory college project.
Naik claims he only used GCP for the specific assignments required by his college.
He has started receiving 'past-due balance' notices from a US-based collections agency, ABC Amega.
The student states his college has been unresponsive to his queries about the bill.
Online developer communities have advised Naik to contact Google Cloud support for a potential billing waiver.
- Who
- Girish Naik, an Indian college student
- What
- Received a bill for nearly Rs 1 Lakh for using Google Cloud Platform for a college project, and is now receiving collection notices.
- When
- The issue is ongoing, with Naik recently sharing his experience and receiving collection notices.
- Where
- India (student and college); charges from Google Cloud Platform; collection notices from a US-based agency.
- Why
- The college allegedly mandated the use of Google Cloud Platform for student projects, requiring account creation and billing method attachment.
Student's Claim
Developer Community Speculation
Bill Origin
Student's Claim
Mandatory college assignment required using GCP, with limited personal usage for specific tasks.
Developer Community Speculation
Likely due to a common error of leaving a resource like a virtual machine running continuously and forgetting about it.
College Support
Student's Claim
The college has been unresponsive and unhelpful in resolving the issue.
Developer Community Speculation
No specific stance, but the community offered solutions bypassing college help.
Liability
Student's Claim
Questions if the charges are legitimate or a billing error, seeking advice on disputing them.
Developer Community Speculation
Suggested contacting Google Cloud support for a potential waiver, especially for educational projects.
- Student
- Girish Naik (u/ConceptPretty7717)
- Platform
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
- Bill Amount
- Rs 98,940.76 (approx. Rs 1 Lakh)
- Reason for Charges
- Allegedly due to mandatory college project usage
- Collection Agency
- ABC Amega (US-based)
- Student's Action
- Sought advice from the online developer community (Reddit)
