Amazon discontinues monthly Prime subscription, free trial, here’s why

Amazon is discontinuing monthly Prime membership and one month free trial in India to adhere to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) guidelines. Earlier, Indian users were able to buy the monthly Amazon Prime subscription at just Rs 129 per month. 

The e-commerce giant will now only offer three-month or annual Prime memberships that are priced at Rs 329 and Rs 999, respectively. The company’s support page has been updated to reflect the discontinuation of its monthly membership. 

Amazon has already stopped new member sign-ups for Amazon Prime free since April 27. Currently, if you’re planning to buy or renew an Amazon Prime membership then you’ll be able to subscribe only for the three month or annual membership. 

Amazon has probably taken the decision after RBI introduced new guidelines that require banks and payments platforms to incorporate an additional factor of authentication (AFA) for processing recurring online transactions. Banks and payments processing companies will have to implement the RBI’s mandate by September 30, 2021. 

Meanwhile, Amazon has unveiled a new free video streaming service 'miniTV' in India that will allow users to watch curated content across web series, tech news, food, beauty and fashion, among others, on its shopping app. The new service is free and support by ads. 

"miniTV has professionally created and curated content across web-series, comedy shows, tech news, food, beauty, fashion and more...With the launch of miniTV, Amazon.In shopping app is now a single destination for customers to shop from millions of products, make payments and watch free entertainment videos," a statement said