YouTube Increases Prices of its Premium Service in India

Video streaming service YouTube has increased the price of its Premium service in the country. The rates of all subscription plans of this ad-free service have been increased. These include individual, family and student subscription plans. In this service, users get features like ad-free video streaming, the facility to watch videos or listen to music in the background and picture-in-picture (PiP) mode.

It is not known whether existing subscribers of YouTube Premium will get a grace period to pay the new rates. The rate of its individual plan for a single user has been increased from Rs 129 per month to Rs 149 per month. Users with a family plan will have to pay Rs 299 per month. In this plan, up to five users can access this service. Earlier its price was Rs 189.

Its student plan has been increased from Rs 79 per month to Rs 89. The rates of its prepaid plans have also been increased. A one-month trial is available for new users. American technology company Google YouTube, controlled by the US, was warned by the central government about deepfakes last year. Some social media platforms, including YouTube, were told that deepfakes and posting content that spreads obscenity or misinformation is prohibited under the country’s law.

Under these rules, content that is harmful to children, obscene or imitating another person is banned. Cases of making fake videos of politicians and celebrities using Artificial Intelligence (AI) have increased. Such videos are called deepfakes. The government is preparing to make new regulations against this. Under these regulations, fines can be imposed on the creator of deepfakes and the platform hosting it. To deal with this problem, regulations related to AI can soon be brought under legal ambit. The country’s AI market is estimated to grow to $17 billion by 2027 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25-35 percent. A report by Nasscom, an organization of software companies, and Boston Consulting Group stated that the reasons behind this growth would be increased spending by enterprises on tech and investment in AI.