Amazon to hike annual Prime membership fee to Rs 1,499, monthly fee Rs 179

Amazon is set to increase the price of the annual membership of its Prime programme in India by 50 per cent to Rs 1499.

Monthly and a quarterly fee of Prime membership - which offers users access to Amazon Prime Video and one-day delivery on millions of items on the e-commerce platform - is also being hiked.

"The price of Prime memberships in IN (India) is being revised from Rs 999 to Rs 1,499 (annual plan), Rs 329 to Rs 459 (3-month plan), and Rs 129 to Rs 179 (monthly plan)," an Amazon spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that the price of prime membership in India will be changing very soon, and the company will announce the exact date of the price change at a later time.

"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," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson noted that Prime one-day delivery is available on millions of items, while Prime Video offers unlimited access to movies, TV shows, and Amazon Originals in 10 languages.

Members also get access to 70 million songs ad-free with Amazon Music, free access to a rotating selection of thousands of books with Prime Reading as well as Prime Early Access to sale events, new product launches, and Lightning Deals as well as access to global shopping events Prime Day.

Content consumption has grown manifold in the last few years, especially amid the pandemic. OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+Hotstar, and Zee5 have seen significant growth in user numbers. Amazon Prime Video has been bolstering its play in the content space in India.

Recently, Amazon announced the launch of Prime Video Channels - a marketplace that brings content providers like discovery+, Lionsgate Play and Eros Now on one platform - in India. Acting as an intermediary, Prime Video Channels will allow Prime members the option for add-on subscriptions of (over-the-top) OTT services and stream their content on the Amazon Prime Video app and website in India.