Netflix may soon ask extra money for sharing your account with others

New Delhi, March 17 (IANS): Popular video streaming platform Netflix is planning to pause password sharing outside a single household by charging users extra for doing so.

“While these have been hugely popular, they have also created some confusion about when and how Netflix can be shared. As a result, accounts are being shared between households impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members,” Chengyi Long, Netflix’s director of product innovation, said in a statement.

The main account owner will receive an email with a code, to enable the new sub-accounts. The user must use the code to verify the additional devices are a part of their household.

The firm will launch and test two new features in select markets, where members will have to pay an additional USD 2 to USD 3 for sharing their passwords with people outside their homes. Netflix recently bumped up its subscription prices for the UK and Ireland.

The video streaming giant has around 14 million subscribers in the UK and 600,000 in Ireland, according to Ampere Analysis. The most popular package is the standard subscription, which offers streaming in HD quality to up to two devices which used to cost USD 7.82 but has now gone up to USD 9.13 in the UK.

This change applies to new subscribers, while current subscribers will be notified 30 days before the new prices affect their account. In January, Netflix also increased the price of its monthly subscription plans in the US and Canada.

In the US, subscribers to Netflix’s basic plan, which allows for one stream on one screen at a time and does not have HD streaming, is now USD 9.99 a month, up from USD 8.99, after the price hike in January.