Netflix woos viewers with ₹199/month, Amazon hikes it up to ₹179

Popular streaming platform Netflix has dropped its steep monthly subscription fee from ₹499 to ₹199 to attract more viewers and deepen its penetration in India.

The new Netflix prices will come into effect from Tuesday (December 14) and will impact members from their next billing cycle. Prices have been reduced from 18-60 per cent across different plans. Conversely, Amazon Prime ‘s monthly subscription has gone up from ₹129 to ₹179, while the yearly rate is ₹1,499. (Netflix has no yearly membership)

According to an official Netflix release, the mobile-only plan, earlier priced at ₹199 per month, will now come for ₹149. The premium plan that works across four devices has also been brought down from ₹799 to ₹649. Yet, despite lowering their prices, the Netflix monthly subscription remains higher than rivals Disney+Hotstar and Amazon.

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Monika Shergill, VP-Content, Netflix India said in the release, “As Indians, we love great entertainment. Whatever your mood, tastes or plan, Netflix is now even more accessible. Whether you choose Aranyak on Friday, Money Heist on Saturday, or Dhamaka and Sooryavanshi on Sunday, you can watch all of Netflix on your mobile for ₹149, and on any device starting at ₹199.” This price change is also part of the OTT platform’s strategy to get a wider reach after witnessing a global traction of their Indian titles and a spike in viewers after the pandemic, said media reports.

Also, Netflix, which is facing heat from Disney+Hotstar, has released this new pricing after the latter had in September unveiled a range of new price plans including a mobile-only plan for ₹499 per year, for ₹899 per year across two devices and for ₹1,499 per year across four devices. Hotstar was earlier priced at ₹399 per annum for its VIP service and ₹1,499 for premium.

Earlier, users without premium subscription could not access content such as Disney+ originals, TV shows from Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, HBO, FX, Showtime, 20th Century, and Searchlight Pictures. After the new plans got into place, the extensive content library will be the same for subscribers of the lowest and the highest plan.

Meanwhile, OTT platforms like Zee5 are priced at ₹299 for three months, while MUBI remains the highest now with ₹499 per month.