OTT services operating in India. Which of these offer rental services?
Streaming service Amazon Prime Video recently unveiled its expansion plan in India, under which the platform will double its investment in the country and also release 41 new titles, including movies and web series, over a period of 24 months. Among its other hooks for viewers, it has launched Prime Video Store, its transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) movie rental service in India.
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What is a movie rental service?
The concept of online movie rental is based on the old rental service stores that used to give out movies on physical CDs/DVDs for a fixed amount and time. This trade has been moved online, wherein you can rent a movie for a fixed number of days/hours. Amazon has launched Prime Video Store, available to both Prime members and non-members. The major plus here is that non-members can also rent movies that are on offer. The service will enable customers to get early rental access to the latest Indian and international films. The movies will be available for a period of 48 hours once they have started watching them. The price of a rental movie varies between Rs 69 to Rs 499.
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Netflix
The US- based streaming giant Netflix does not have a rental option. The service has four plans that cost Rs 149, Rs 199, Rs 499 and Rs 649 and all the content is available under these payment options.
Hotstar
Hotstar has two long-term plans that cost Rs 899 and Rs 1499 for a year. All content,sports and movies is covered under this and nothing yet is available on rent.
Sony LIV
Sony LIV is available for Rs 999 for one year and all premium content is covered under this plan. There is no rental service offered by this OTT platform.
ZEE5
ZEE5 offers plans as low as Rs 699 for one year and there is no rental service on this platform. However, for some premium movie releases, subscribers have to pay an additional amount to watch the content.
Tata Play
Tata Sky’s subscription opens up a catalog of rental movies that can be purchased for a limited time frame- 48 hours. Latest Hollywood and Bollywood movies are available for streaming for an additional amount.
YouTube
YouTube has had a rental service for the longest time. Movies are available for as cheap as Rs 50 to as much as rs 700 based on the picture quality. Movies can be both bought and rented.
