Netflix Restricts Password Sharing In India, Here's What It Means

Have you been using someone else's account to watch Netflix? The OTT giant has bad news for you. On Thursday, Netflix officially put an end to password sharing in India, saying only household members will have access to a single account. 

Netflix has been cracking down against password sharing in other countries too. The global crackdown on password sharing aims to strengthen revenue and increase subscriber retention on the platform. Earlier, on May 23, Netflix ended password sharing in 103 countries and territories, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, Singapore, Mexico, and Brazil. 

So far, Netflix's efforts have produced the desired surge as it gained nearly 6 million subscribers after imposing the new password sharing rules. With this, Netflix now has a total of 238.4 million subscribers. According to Netflix, revenue in each region is now higher than pre-launch, with sign-ups exceeding cancellations. Netflix' approach regarding account sharing in India and the remaining countries differs slightly from those where password sharing rules were introduced in May.

"Beginning today, we'll start to address account sharing between households in almost all of our remaining countries. In these markets, we're not offering an extra member option given that we've recently cut prices in a good number of these countries (for example, Indonesia, Croatia, Kenya, and India) and penetration is still relatively low in many of them so we have plenty of runway without creating additional complexity," Netflix said, in a letter to its shareholders on July 19.

Starting July 20, Netflix is sending an email to members who are sharing Netflix outside their household in India, asking them to manage their accounts and set up a Netflix home/household.

What Is A Netflix Home? How To Set It Up?

A Netflix home is the set of devices used to watch Netflix that are connected to the Internet and located in the main location from which you watch Netflix. Netflix housing can be set up on a television. Any devices connected to the same Internet network as this TV and using your Netflix account will automatically become part of the housing that utilizes Netflix. Information such as IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity to keep track of all devices signed into one account. 

To set up the account on your TV, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your account, go to the home page and  press the right arrow on the remote control to open the menu.
2. Select ‘Help request' > Manage housing using Netflix .
3. Select ‘Confirm housing using Netflix' or ‘Update housing using Netflix'.
4. Next, select send an email or send a text message. Netflix will send a verification link (active for 15 minutes) to your email address or phone number.
5. On email, select ‘Yes, I applied', or click the link in the text message, then choose ‘Confirm housing using Netflix' or ‘Update housing using Netflix' to continue. 
6. You will receive a confirmation email, and a confirmation message will appear on the TV screen too. Select Continue and you're done..

If you don't set a household, Netflix will automatically assign one to you based on your IP address, device identifiers, and account activity, which can be updated by you anytime. For those who don't want to watch Netflix on their TV, they don't have to set which home uses Netflix for their account. 

How To Check Who's Using Your Netflix Account?

The Manage Access and Devices page provides information about signed-in devices that have been active on the account within the last 90 days. One can use this page to sign out of these devices if needed. If you have an active subscription and would like to sign out of devices that you don't have access to:

1. Go to Manage Access and Devices.
2. Select the Sign Out button next to the device you want to sign out of.