Amazon Prime Membership: Amazon is set to increase the Amazon Prime membership price in India, and that too, by a whopping 50%. This means that the price of the annual Prime subscription is set to increase from Rs 999 to Rs 1,499. This change is not limited to the annual plans. The monthly and quarterly subscription plans in India are also going to be revised, with the quarterly plan going up from current Rs 329 to Rs 459, and the monthly plan being revised from Rs 129 to Rs 179. While the exact date of the implementation of the hiked charges has not yet been revealed, the plans will come into effect very soon, the company has said.
Also read | Apple Music Voice plan decoded: What is it and who is it for?
The new prices have also been updated by Amazon on its support page for Prime Membership. Amazon has justified increasing the price by saying, “Since the launch 5 years ago in India, Prime has continued to increase the value it offers members. Prime provides an unparalleled combination of shopping, savings and entertainment benefits to make life more convenient and entertaining every single day, and we continue to invest in making Prime even more valuable for customers.”
Amazon also clarified that users who are in the middle of an existing subscription would be able to continue their subscription till the end of the term without being affected by the price change. But in case the new price has been introduced by the time they are due for renewal, then they would only be able to renew at the new price. But Amazon will not charge customers’ saved cards for the new price immediately, it clarified.
However, the Amazon Prime Youth offer would still be applicable once the prices of the plans have been changed. Amazon has been running a Prime Youth offer since July as per which youth aged between 18 and 24 years would be able to get a certain amount of cashback upon buying a paid subscription to Amazon Prime. At the new prices, users availing the youth offer would get a cashback of Rs 90 for monthly subscription, having to effectively pay Rs 89 for it, while the quarterly subscription would effectively be Rs 229 after getting a cashback of Rs 230. For the yearly subscription, users will get a cashback of Rs 750, having to effectively pay Rs 749.
Customers must also note that the price change would also impact the users who get Amazon Prime subscription bundled with other offers from their mobile operators. In such cases, users would have to check with their telecom operators to understand how they will be affected by this change.