Amazon Prime India has raised the price of its monthly subscription plan to Rs 299 from Rs 179, which is an increase of Rs 120. In the same vein, the three-month subscription plan now costs Rs 599, which is Rs 140 more than its previous price. The annual subscription fee, however, remains unchanged at Rs 1,499.
In 2021, Amazon raised the price of its Prime membership, requiring users to pay Rs 1,499 annually instead of the previous Rs 999. Recently, the e-commerce giant increased the membership price once again, but only for the monthly and three-month subscription options. The annual subscription price remains the same.
When comparing the prices of Amazon Prime subscription and Netflix subscription in India, Netflix’s mobile plan starts at Rs 149, while the single device streaming in HD video plan costs Rs 199 for one device at a time. The standard plan costs Rs 499, and the premium plan costs Rs 649.
Nevertheless, the Amazon Prime membership provides users with more benefits than just video streaming. Subscribers can enjoy free and expedited delivery of their Amazon orders, access to Prime Music, early notifications of sales and promotions on Amazon, exclusive discounts, and various other perks.
India has a large population of over 140.76 crore people, of which more than 40% use the internet, making it a competitive market for video streaming platforms. Disney+Hotstar lost 3.8 million subscribers in the October-December quarter of 2022 after losing IPL streaming rights and removing HBO content. Meanwhile, Jio Cinema gained 5 crore new app downloads and over 147 crore video views in just one weekend by offering free IPL streaming.
Amazon Prime faces competition from not only global players such as Disney+Hotstar and Netflix but also Indian players like Jio Cinema, Voot, Alt Balaji, SonyLiv, and Zee5. The impact of a price hike on any one platform on the overall market remains to be seen in this content-driven market.
