Unlike some countries like the U.S. and U.K., Netflix has not introduced an additional member fee for its Indian customers.
American multinational video streaming platform Netflix announced that it has ended password-sharing in India. The OTT platform began the crackdown on password sharing for its subscription services in February and has since expanded it to several others including the United States.
Indian subscribers who are sharing Netflix outside their households will get an email from the company starting today. “A Netflix account is for use by one household. Everyone living in that household can use Netflix wherever they are — at home, on the go, on holiday — and take advantage of new features like Transfer Profile and Manage Access and Devices,” it said.
As per the company’s password-sharing guidelines, users can set a primary location for their Netflix accounts to ensure everyone in the household can use the service. They can access Netflix from that particular account both at home and even when on vacation. The changes were rolled out with a new “Manage Access and Devices” page, for users to curate who has access to their accounts.
The OTT major began the crackdown on password sharing for its subscription services in February, starting with users in New Zealand, Canada, Spain, and Portugal, and has since expanded it to hundreds of others. Users in these nations will not be able to share their Netflix for free outside of their households. The streaming company charges subscribers of its standard and premium plans $7.99 every month for every extra member in the U.S. In the United Kingdom, the charge for the same plans is £4.99 per month for each extra member.
However, so far, the streaming platform has not introduced an additional member fee for its Indian customers. According to a TechCrunch report, Netflix will not be offering the extra member option in certain countries including India due to low market penetration in these markets. The company says households in these countries who are borrowing account login credentials can transfer existing profiles to new and existing accounts. The lowest, mobile Netflix subscription plans start at Rs 149 a month for users in India. The monthly Basic, Standard, and Premium plans cost Rs 199, Rs 499, and Rs 649 respectively in the country.
The Los Gatos-headquartered company estimated in February that over 100 million households are sharing their account login credentials which is impacting its ability to invest in great new TV and films. The company had said in the past that the new password policy would give its members greater control over who can access their accounts. Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing is fetching results as the streaming major saw an uptick of 5.9 million in the number of global subscribers supported by its paid sharing rules in the quarter that ended in June.
