Netflix India has taken a giant step towards increasing its user base in the country by introducing a mobile-only subscription plan of ₹199 per month on Wednesday morning.
This is seen as a direct attempt to compete with other streaming platforms in India like Amazon Prime (monthly subscription rates begin at ₹129) and Hotstar (monthly rate of ₹299).
The ₹199 plan is limited only to India as of now, but Netflix has confirmed that it is being tested in some other parts of the world. The plan goes live today and will support only one screen and SD streaming. The ₹199 plan will only work on mobiles and tablets, and will support downloads, but does not support casting to a TV.
After Netflix revealed that India has the biggest global smartphone user base, the platform which is now producing India Originals like Sacred Games and Chopsticks, is targeting the tier two and three segments in the country.
At a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday, Ajay Arora, who is the Director of Product Innovation at Netflix, stated that users in India watch more content on their mobiles than any other country, and that more Indian users have signed up to the service through mobile, than other countries in recent years.
The ₹199 plan is Netflix’s fourth Indian offering: the basic costs ₹499 a month (HD content on one screen), the standard costs ₹649 a month (HD on two screens) and the premium is at ₹799 a month ( Ultra HD or 4K resolution on four screens).
The company also recently revealed that thirteen new films and nine new original series are already in the pipeline for the Indian audience soon.