Netflix Tightens Password Sharing Noose On 100 Nations; Indian Users Unlikely To Be Impacted For Now

In a bid to increase its user base and topline, streaming giant Netflix is expanding its crackdown on password sharing to the US and more than 100 other countries.

Netflix said it will send emails to users saying that an account should only be used in one household. For adding members outside of their homes, Netflix subscribers will have to pay an additional fee.

“Starting today, we will be sending this email to members who are sharing Netflix outside their household in the US,” the company said in a blog.

“A Netflix account is for use by one household. Everyone living in that household can use Netflix wherever they are — at home, on the go, on holiday — and take advantage of new features like Transfer Profile and Manage Access and Devices,” it said.

Netflix users in the US will have to pay $8 per month for adding extra members to their accounts, the company said. However, no such pricing has been announced for India, indicating that Indian users may be exempted from this for now.

Netflix India didn’t respond to Inc42’s queries on the issue. The story will be updated on receiving a response from the company.

Last year, former Netflix CEO Reed Hastings revealed the streaming giant’s plans to end password sharing for everyone in a phased manner. Earlier this year, new co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos also said that Netflix password sharing will end for all users soon.

Going by these statements, the company is also likely to stop allowing sharing of account passwords by Indian users sooner or later.

Sharing OTT passwords is a common practice in India and the impact of such a move on the company’s business in the country remains unclear.

According to a study by YouGov last year, 41% consumers in India feel it is okay to share their streaming service login details with anyone they want to. When it comes to group subscriptions, 62% Indian consumers are of the opinion that video and music streaming services should offer more plans of this nature.

Netflix is yet to gain a substantial market share in the crowded Indian OTT space, where it competes with the likes of JioCinema, Amazon Prime Video, and Zee5. In its Q1 earnings call, Sarandos said that Netflix was ready to adjust price and deliver content as per market needs.

“When we get the pricing a little better and more suited to the market, you can see that we can grow revenue, and therefore, we grow engagement. We have to get the content that people just really flip out for,” Sarandos said.

According to a report by RBSA Advisors, India’s video OTT market is expected to reach a size of $12.5 Bn by 2030 from about $1.5 Bn in 2021 on the back of rising access to better networks, and increasing smartphone penetration.