Netflix ends free trial period; offers first-month subscription at INR 5

With a global user base of over 167 million, American OTT streaming service Netflix that launched in India in 2016 reportedly caters to an audience of nearly two million in the country. The company does not publicly release region-wise subscriber count. Truth be told, a huge chunk of this 'watch anywhere, anytime and as much as you may want' service's Indian user-base accounts for freebies – most of who are using a friend's brother's sister's roommate's account or those have a neatly maintained excel sheet of multiple email ids and their passwords, happily signing up for a 30 day free trial with a new id every time the offer expires on the earlier used id.

Alas, the brand discontinued the free one-month trial offer for most countries, including India, earlier this year. Instead, under the brand's latest marketing promotion, new subscribers will be offered the first month subscription at Rs 5, irrespective of the Netflix plan they choose. Starting the second month, the subscribers would be charged the regular subscription fee that starts at Rs 199, depending on the plan they opted for at the time of signing up.

“This is a new marketing promotion designed to help more people discover Netflix. Depending on its success, we may roll it out more widely,” a Netflix spokesperson tells us.

The promotion will enable people to watch the entire Netflix catalogue - including award-winning films, series and documentaries - with all the features that regular members enjoy (ad-free streaming, complete control over how and what they watch) for Rs 5 for the first month. The subscription plans of the OTT service remain the same – Mobile (Rs 199), Basic (Rs 499), Standard (Rs 649) and Premium (Rs 799).

Since the offer is still in its testing phase, only some new members will be able to avail it at the time of signing up. Depending on its success, the brand will roll it out more widely in future.

Additionally, the brand that competes with the likes of Hotstar and Amazon Prime in the Indian market, has announced it will invest Rs 3000 crore in creating content in India in 2019 and 2020.