Video streaming platform Amazon Prime will now only offer a three-month subscription and an annual subscription to users as part of Amazon’s larger plans for India.

As per Mashable, the tech giant has taken the decision, which involves all its services, due to the Reserve Bank of India’s recent mandate on recurring transactions, an ANI news report from Washington said.

Amazon will now just offer a three-month membership and a yearly subscription for Prime membership, including Prime Video. The move would be a blow for early adopters who could get the premium service earlier for as low as Rs 129 a month.

It is not clear whether this move of India’s central bank would impact monthly subscription plans of other streaming platforms too. For example, Netflix has a Rs. 199 per month mobile-only plan, which it incubated in India and now exploring roll out in select other countries. Recently, the streamer also started a Rs. 299/month Mobile+ plan that gives consumers access to HD content on the mobile and computers too.

Meanwhile, Mashable cited RBI guidelines that mandates organizations to present an additional step of authentication for processing recurring online transactions from later this year.

According to the RBI order, “arrangements/practices not compliant with AFA would not be continued beyond 31st March 2021”.

This deadline was subsequently updated to September 2021 to permit organisations more time to comply with local laws and avoid any inconvenience to the user. The mandate formulated by RBI probably means to reinforce the safety and security of credit/debit card transactions for clients, particularly those related to repeating exchanges of high value.

Under the new standards, banks should notify customers beforehand with respect to any due repeated payment.

The transaction will happen once the client has confirmed the exchange and approved it. In addition, the banks are supposed to send clients a one-time password (OTP) to hold out a repetitive payment of more than Rs 5000.

The tech giant has already updated its FAQ page to display the evacuation of the monthly membership plan for Amazon Prime. Amazon has additionally briefly stopped its free trial offered to new Prime members.

Flagging it as an `Important Notice’, the Amazon message states: “Please note that effective 1 April 2021, owing to a Reserve Bank of India 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…Effective 27 April 2021, the update under this notice will supersede any conflicting positions in the Prime T&Cs below.

Amazon presently has two membership options — a three-month plan priced at Rs 329 and the annual plan priced at Rs 999.

Amazon Music HD Now Available To Amazon Music Unlimited SUBS: Amazon Music Monday announced that going forward, its high-quality streaming tier, Amazon Music HD, will be available to all eligible Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers at no extra cost, unlocking access to the highest-quality streaming audio for even more music fans.

In 2019, Neil Young called the launch of HD udio for Amazon “the biggest thing to happen in music since the introduction of digital audio” and now, even more fans can stream music with all of the depth, vibrancy, and emotion from artists’ original recordings, the company statement, issued from Seattle, said.

“When we first launched Amazon Music HD, our goal was to lead the industry by enabling music fans around the world to stream the best quality recording, the way artists intended their music to be heard,” Steve Boom, VP of Amazon Music, said in a statement.

He added: “We’re thrilled now to make Amazon Music HD available to everyone at no extra cost. All music fans should have access to this quality of music, and now they do!”

With Amazon Music HD, customers can stream more than 70 million lossless, High Definition (HD) songs, with a bit depth of 16 bits and a sample rate of 44.1kHz (CD quality).

Customers can also stream more than 7 million songs in ultra HD with a bit depth of 24 bits and a sample rate up to 192 kHz, which reveals even more nuances that were once flattened in files compressed for digital streaming.

Amazon Music HD has added more than 5 million songs to its ultra HD catalog since its 2019 launch, providing customers with the largest selection of music in Ultra HD. With Amazon Music HD, customers also have access to a rapidly-growing catalog of songs remixed in 3D Audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and Sony 360RA. Listeners can stream these 3D mixes when listening on Amazon’s groundbreaking high-fidelity smart speaker, Echo Studio. Music in 360RA can also be streamed via Amazon Music HD on Sony’s RA5000 and RA3000 speakers by using Alexa Cast.

Subscribers to Amazon Music Unlimited can now upgrade to Amazon Music HD at no extra cost in the US, UK, Germany, Canada, France, Italy, and Spain.