Nextflix puts an end to password sharing outside households in India

Users who are detected sharing accounts will be prompted to sign up for an account or change their residence. Additionally, Netflix can decide to close the account.

On Thursday, Netflix said that it is adding more limitations to account and password sharing in India. Since a while ago, the dominant streaming service has cracked down on password sharing globally, forbidding customers from disclosing their credentials with anybody save their family.

According to a Netflix announcement, password sharing will be prohibited in India. Users will not be able to pay the corporation to share their account with their friends and family. The business had previously, in May this year, restricted the sharing of passwords across more than 100 nations, including well-known ones like the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Singapore, Mexico, and Brazil.

Users will receive emails from the company explaining that the account is intended for a single family and that any additional members may transfer their profiles to a new account and purchase a separate subscription.

According to the statement from Netflix, “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.”

"We recognise that our members have many entertainment choices. It is why we continue to invest heavily in a wide variety of new films and TV shows - so whatever your taste, mood or language and whoever you are watching with, there is always something satisfying to watch on Netflix," it added.

Netflix has added roughly 6 million users worldwide because to the enforcement. According to an earnings report, the streaming behemoth closed the most recent quarter with 238 million subscribers overall and a profit of 1.5 billion USD, in contrast to losing nearly one million subscribers in the same quarter last year.

In India, sharing a Netflix subscription with friends to split the cost of the service amongst two to three people is extremely widespread. This will now come to an end with the company's new initiatives.

Using the user's IP address, device ID, and account activity from devices signed into the account, Netflix can detect password sharing. It is challenging for users outside the main household to use the account because the corporation identifies the IP address. Users will need to submit access codes in order to watch Netflix for up to seven days away from their home residence. Additionally, users must make a minimum of one Wi-Fi connection every 31 days to the main residence.

According to a statement made by Netflix in April 2023, the firm cut the cost of its service by 20–60% in India in December 2021, which helped the company increase engagement there by about 30% YoY and boost revenue growth to 24% in 2022 from 19% in 2021.

Although this strategy is anticipated to have had a minimal effect on Netflix's revenue in the second quarter of 2023, the business claimed that it is still in the "early stages of monetization" and that they anticipate seeing the "full benefits" of paid sharing in the latter half of this year, notably in Q4 2023.

Users who are detected sharing accounts will be prompted to sign up for an account or change their residence. Additionally, Netflix can decide to close the account.

The introduction of the new account usage policy will begin on July 20 and will be gradual. This basically indicates that it will take the corporation a few weeks or days to roll out the most recent version throughout India.