Amazon has reintroduced its one-month Prime membership in India. The monthly Amazon Prime subscription that costs Rs 129 was discontinued earlier this year after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued new guidelines mandating the adoption of an additional factor of authentication (AFA) for recurring online transactions.
Until now, Amazon only offered Prime memberships for three and 12 months. There are now three different subscription packages for Amazon Prime. The first one costs Rs 129 for a month, the second one costs at a discounted price of Rs 329, rather than Rs 387 for three months. In addition, the yearly plan costs Rs 999.
The Rs. 129 monthly subscription plan, however, comes with a few limitations and cannot be bought via an all-electronic method. Although the yearly and three-month plans can be purchased using any electronic payment options via Amazon, the Rs 129 plan is exclusively bought through credit cards or select debit cards.
According to Amazon’s terms and conditions page, the Rs 129 monthly Prime subscription can be purchased through banks that have followed the RBI’s e-mandate requirements. Banks that have not fulfilled the RBI’s standards may be unable to process any automated payment requests. Because of these limitations, Amazon has suspended new member sign-ups for the Amazon Prime free trial until further notice.
The RBI regulation requires banks to use a one-time AFA (additional factor for authentication) for recurring payments of up to Rs. 5,000. If the transaction account crosses this threshold, AFA will be required for every payment. The new RBI norms were originally announced in August 2019 to prevent customers from making unwanted recurring payments using their cards. After several delays, the framework was finally implemented on October 1, 2021.
The Rs 129 monthly subscription includes streaming unlimited movie and TV shows, exclusive member-only discounts and offers, ad-free 75 million songs via Prime Music, and free in-game content. People purchasing the subscription also enjoy 5percent reward points and also e-books, comics, and more. It also includes free and fast delivery of all the products ordered via Amazon.in.
According to the e-commerce giant’s official Help webpage, “Prime Membership is provided on a subscription basis, and a customer is required to make periodic payments to continue to avail the services and the benefits of the Membership. The Membership may be offered under different plans for varying durations, such as monthly or annual, as may be determined by the entity offering the Membership. You may opt for any Membership plan offered, subject to the terms and conditions of the Membership.”
