Looking For A Cheap Netflix Account? You Shall Be Truly Disappointed: CEO

In a great disappointment to the growing fan base for Netflix in India, the Chief Executive Reed Hastings confirmed that he has no plans for cheaper plans in India and that his purported comments suggesting the same were grossly misunderstood, Live Mint has reported.

Netflix India currently has three plans: Rs 500 ($6.90) for a basic plan, Rs 650 ($9.00) for a standard plan and Rs 800 ($11) for the premium plan and these prices are only modestly lower compared to what is offered in the United States.

Hastings justified his stance stating that the subscriber base in India is quite a mix across the three plans, similar to the pattern found in the US. ”We don’t have a pricing issue. Because if it were, everyone would be on the lower price plan.”, he said.

When asked directly if that meant the company had no plans for lower prices in India, he said: “Correct”.

Hastings made these comments in a Singapore event where the company introduced 17 new original productions for Asia, including India. He said local production was a key driver of new subscribers in India and elsewhere.

However, Hastings said Netflix could still thrive amid cheaper options. “It is true that YouTube is free, Amazon is basically free, and cable is extremely inexpensive because it’s ad-supported. To some degree, that creates a consumer expectation,” he said.

He added that the cost of Netflix in India was “like going to the movie theatre 2-3 tickets a month, but you get to watch a lot more.”