Amazon Prime Monthly, Quarterly Subscription Prices Hiked; Cost of Annual Plan Remains Unchanged: Report

Amazon Prime membership price in India has become more expensive for users who opt for monthly and quarterly plans. The price hike is not applicable to the annual subscription option. This means customers can continue to avail of the annual Prime membership at Rs. 1,499. However, the monthly and quarterly Amazon Prime membership prices have been increased by Rs. 120 and Rs. 140, respectively. The monthly subscription option for Amazon Prime has seen the highest price hike, and customers will now have to pay 67 percent more than the previous price.

According to details on Amazon's support page (via MySmartPrice, an Amazon Prime membership in India now costs Rs. 299 for monthly subscribers whereas the quarterly subscription is priced at Rs. 599. These plans previously cost Rs. 179 and Rs. 459, respectively. This means that the monthly plan has been hiked by around 67 percent while the quarterly subscription plans have gone up by nearly 31 percent. The annual membership has not been hiked, which means it continues to be priced at Rs. 1,499.

It is worth noting that the benefits and perks of the subscription remain the same, regardless of the duration of the Amazon Prime subscription. Users will gain access to free one to two-day deliveries at eligible addresses, with no minimum order value required, along with access to Prime Video, Prime Music, and Prime Reading. In addition to these services, subscribers will also have exclusive access to top deals and 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals on the e-commerce site on a daily basis.

Amazon introduced its Prime membership in India in 2016, at an introductory price of Rs. 499 a year. It introduced a monthly subscription plan only in 2018.

Meanwhile, Amazon Prime also offers a lower-priced Prime Lite membership. This plan is priced at Rs. 999 per year. The subscription offers benefits like free two-day delivery, no minimum order value for free standard deliveries, early access to "Lightning" deals, as well as Amazon's "deals of the day". Prime Lite subscribers can also access unlimited video content, similar to Amazon Prime. However, the content will be available in standard definition (SD) quality, and accompanied by ads. It can be streamed on two devices at a time, one of which must be a mobile phone, according to the company.