Amazon Cancels Free Trial and One-Month Prime Membership plan in India

Amazon will no longer offer monthly Prime Membership and its free trial in India. Moving forward, the e-commerce giant will only offer a 3-month or annual Prime Membership. Amazon stated, “Please note that effective 1 April 2021, owing to an RBI mandate, your bank may not be able to process any new requests for automated payments on your credit/debit cards. Therefore, effective 27 April 2021, we have temporarily discontinued - (i) new member sign-ups for Amazon Prime Free Trial and (ii) new member sign-ups for Monthly Prime Membership until further notice. You can continue enjoying Prime membership benefits by renewing/signing up for the Three Month or Annual Prime Membership.”

According to a new guideline by RBI, companies will have to implement an additional factor of authentication (AFA) for processing recurring online transactions. This would make the monthly recharge cumbersome. Thus, Amazon has simply removed the one-month option.

The new RBI framework originally launched in August 2019, but the last date to implement it is September 30, 2021. RBI extended this deadline to prevent any inconvenience to the customers. Further, reports suggest that merchants across the country urged RBI that the AFA would disrupt auto-payments of bills. Mobile and utility bills, along with OTT subscriptions are currently the highest-grossing avenues in the sector.

Amazon Prime Membership Rate

If you want to buy Amazon Prime Membership or renew it, you can only purchase three month or annual subscription. Three months subscription for Amazon Prime costs ₹ 329 and the yearly membership at ₹ 999 per year.

Prime members enjoy unlimited free, fast delivery on eligible items, video streaming, ad-free music, free in-game content, exclusive access to deals & more. With prime Video, users can enjoy Amazon Originals, HBO, Showtime, and CBS Shows. Through the membership, users also have early access to major sale deals. Prime members in India can also enjoy a wide selection of mobile gaming content from national and internationally popular mobile games. Some major names include World Cricket Championship, Ludo King, and Words with Friends.

Read More: Amazon Prime Day 2021: All Speculative Details We Know So Far