Free tier on following rate limits page says you only have to be within the allowed geography (not have deposited $5) to use e.g. gpt-3.5-turbo, so why the error message?:
https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/rate-limits/usage-tiers?context=tier-free
I understand it is confusing.
“Free tier” is where you are if OpenAI has given you promotional or trial credits. Or no credits.
They stopped automatically granting trial credits to new accounts a year ago. The “free tier” and its usage limits still appears because there may still be those it applies to.
Thus, there is no free usage, and your API calls have to be pre-funded with credits you purchase. Adding a payment method and making a credit purchase for your organization is how you’ll need to get started. 
It’s not just confusing - it’s downright dishonest. If the page is showing a free tier, there better had be a free tier. There’s no asterisk to explain the LACK of a free tier; nothing.
This stuff is infuriating. It’s not open and it’s not even AI - even that part is dishonest.