Netflix slashes monthly subscription rates by 60% for viewers amid competition

Content streaming platform Netflix on Tuesday said it is slashing its monthly subscription rates by up to 60 per cent in India as it looks to woo viewers amid growing competition in the OTT space in the countryNetflixs Mobile will now be available at Rs 149 a month from Rs 199 earlier while the Basic plan will be priced at Rs 199 a month instead of Rs 499According to a report published in DailyO the standard plan that streams content at 1080p will now cost Rs 499month from Rs 649 a month With the standard plan two devices can stream at the same time The Premium plan that allows four devices to stream at Ultra HD 4K High Resolution Definition will now cost Rs 649 month Rs 799monthWe are dropping our prices and its across the board across our plans This will include all our service 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 Rs 499 to Rs 199 Netflix Vice President Content India Monika Shergill told PTIShe added that the price drop is matched with a powerpacked slate that the company is launchingNetflix has been a premium offering since its launch in India in 2016 with subscription plans starting from about Rs 500 Since then the company has tweaked pricing as well as introduced a mobileonly plan in the countryWe 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 contentBut in the last twothree 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 its a very organic expansion strategy to go out there she saidShe added that the pricing will appeal to everyone across the board including new users joining the platformWhile Netflix plays in the premium content streaming space it competes with the likes of Amazon Prime Video Hotstar and even YouTube along with other local players in the Indian marketThe competition in the videoondemand space has intensified as data tariffs have come down drastically in the countryContent consumption has grown manifold in the last few years especially amid the pandemic OTT platforms like Netflix Amazon Prime Video Disney Hotstar and Zee5 have seen significant growth in user numbers Smaller players like Hungama and ALTBalaji are also actively expanding their library with original programming to tap into the Indian marketAmazon had recently announced that it will increase the price of the annual membership of its Prime programme which includes content as well as other benefits in India by 50 per cent to Rs 1499 Monthly and quarterly fees are also being hiked DisneyHotstar is available for Rs 899 a year onwardsAlso Read Netflix launches new website for its movies TV news updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever