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    Object Storage Service:Why am I still in arrears after I purchase a resource plan?

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    Object Storage Service:Why am I still in arrears after I purchase a resource plan?

    Last Updated:Aug 17, 2026

    Object Storage Service (OSS) offers various types of resource plans to offset some of the fees incurred when you use OSS. If you still receive an overdue payment notice after purchasing a resource plan, it is usually due to one of the following reasons: the resource plan does not match the redundancy type of your bucket, the resource plan does not cover the billable items you are being charged for, the resource plan region does not match the bucket region, or your usage exceeded the resource plan quota. We recommend that you verify each item in the pre-purchase checklist in this topic before purchasing a resource plan.

    Important

    If your account has an overdue balance for more than 7 days, all data stored in Alibaba Cloud will be permanently deleted. This applies regardless of whether you have purchased a resource plan or whether the resource plan is still valid. Please resolve any overdue payments immediately to prevent data loss.

    Pre-purchase checklist

    Before you purchase a resource plan, verify the following items to avoid purchasing a plan that cannot offset your fees:

    1. Verify the redundancy type of your bucket: Log on to the OSS console and check the redundancy type of the target bucket in the bucket list (locally redundant storage LRS or zone-redundant storage ZRS). The storage plan must match the redundancy type of the bucket. The two types cannot be used interchangeably.

    2. Verify the region of your bucket: Resource plans offset fees only in the corresponding region. For example, if your bucket is in the China (Hangzhou) region, you need to purchase a resource plan for the China (Hangzhou) region or a Chinese mainland general-purpose resource plan.

    3. Verify the billable items that are generating fees: Check your recent bills in the Billing Management console to understand which billable items are generating most of your fees (storage, traffic, requests, etc.). Storage plans offset only storage fees. They do not offset traffic and request fees. You need to purchase separate resource plans for those items.

    4. Verify the resource plan quota against your actual usage: The quota of the resource plan you select must be larger than your current actual usage. You can check the storage volume and traffic usage of each bucket on the Data Overview page in the OSS console.

    Reason 1: The resource plan does not match the redundancy type of your bucket

    This is the most common reason for unexpected charges. OSS storage plans strictly distinguish between redundancy types and cannot offset fees across types:

    • LRS storage plans: Offset only the storage fees of locally redundant storage (LRS) buckets. Cannot offset the fees of zone-redundant storage (ZRS) buckets.

    • ZRS storage plans: Offset only the storage fees of zone-redundant storage (ZRS) buckets. Cannot offset the fees of locally redundant storage (LRS) buckets.

    Note

    The redundancy type of a bucket cannot be changed after the bucket is created. If you purchased the wrong type of storage plan, you must unsubscribe from the plan and purchase the correct type. If you want to migrate data from a ZRS bucket to an LRS bucket to use an existing LRS storage plan, you can use the same-region replication feature. However, note that you will need to rebind access links and custom domain names.

    Reason 2: The resource plan does not match the billable items that are generating fees

    Multiple billable items are generated when you use OSS. Each type of resource plan can offset only its corresponding billable item. Different types of resource plans cannot offset each other:

    • Storage plans offset only storage capacity fees. They do not offset outbound traffic over the Internet fees, request fees, or data processing fees. If you have significant data download requirements, you need to purchase an outbound traffic plan separately.

    • Outbound traffic plans offset only outbound traffic over the Internet fees. They do not offset storage fees or request fees.

    • Request plans offset Put and Get request fees for the corresponding storage class. The Standard storage class request plan offsets requests for Standard storage, and the Non-Standard storage class request plan offsets requests for Infrequent Access, Archive, and Cold Archive storage.

    • If you use OSS with CDN, CDN back-to-origin traffic fees may be generated. You need to purchase a back-to-origin traffic plan to offset these fees.

    Note

    Reason 3: The resource plan region does not match the bucket region

    Resource plans offset fees only in the corresponding region. Plans are not shared across regions.

    • Region-specific resource plans: Offset only fees within the specified region. For example, fees generated in the China (Shanghai) region cannot be offset by a resource plan purchased for the China (Hangzhou) region.

    Reason 4: Actual usage exceeded the resource plan quota

    After the resource plan quota is used up, excess usage is automatically billed on a pay-as-you-go basis, which may result in overdue payments.

    • Single billable item exceeded quota: For example, you purchased an outbound traffic plan with a 100 GB quota, but your actual outbound traffic this month was 110 GB. The excess 10 GB is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.

    We recommend that you regularly check your usage on the Resource Plan Management page in the OSS console and upgrade your plan before the quota runs out. For information about how to upgrade a resource plan, see Upgrade resource plans.

    Reason 5: Billing system delay

    Resource plans take effect immediately after purchase (SCU requires a specified effective time), but there is a delay in the Alibaba Cloud billing system. For example, if a resource plan takes effect at 09:00 and you receive an overdue payment notice at 10:00, the charges may have been incurred before 09:00. Resource plans do not retroactively offset fees incurred before the effective time. We recommend that you check the timestamp of the charges on your bill.

    References