Netflix has announced that it is slashing its monthly subscription rates by up to 60 percent in India, as it looks to attract more viewers amid growing competition in the over-the-top (OTT) media service space in the country.
Users will now pay ₹149 ($1.96) a month from ₹199 ($2.62) earlier for the global streaming giant’s Mobile and ₹199 ($2.62) instead of ₹499 ($6.56) for its basic plan for the same period. The standard plan will be charged at ₹499 ( $6.56) per month and for the premium subscription, users will have to pay ₹649 ($8.53) for a month. These plans were earlier charged at ₹649 ($8.53) and ₹799 ($10.50), respectively.
“We are dropping our prices and it’s across the board, across our plans. This will include all our services – local and global. The biggest drop of 60 per cent is in the basic plan because we want the audiences to watch Netflix on a bigger screen or on any device, so that has gone down from ₹499 ( $6.56) to ₹199 ($2.62),” Monika Shergill, Netflix vice president for content (India), told PTI.
Netflix was launched in India in 2016 and has been a premium offering with subscription plans starting from about ₹500 ($6.57). The company has changed pricing as well as introduced a mobile-only plan in the country since then.
“We have had great momentum since the time we came here (India), particularly over the last two years. When we came in, we were more of a service that brought global content,” Shergill said.
“But in the last two-three years that has been changing dramatically and we are expanding our slate… The whole focus is on reaching our larger set of audiences out there, it’s a very organic expansion strategy to go out there,” she said.
Netflix competes with Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, and even YouTube, along with other local players in the Indian market.
