Amazon Prime raises monthly plan price by 67%

• Follow

In a major setback for OTT viewers in India. Amazon has jacked up subscription fees for its OTT platform Amazon Prime. The monthly subscription plan has become costlier by Rs 120. While, quarterly subscription plan has become costlier by Rs 140. The Prime membership in India will now start from Rs 299 for monthly plans. For three-month subscription plan, viewers will have to pay Rs 599. So far, Amazon has not hiked subscription fees of annual plans. annual plan Subscription fees remains at Rs 1,499.

New features on Whatsapp

On high demand, Whatsapp has added a new feature on its app for users in India. People will now be able to link four smartphones simultaneously to their respective whatsap account. Linking of up to 4 smartphones with the same whatsapp account will make messaging easier for the consumers. User will be able to switch between the smartphones without even signing out from their whatsapp account from any of the devices. Plus, all the messages will be automatically updated on all the linked devices, simultaneously. This will enable the user to pick up chats exactly from where he had left off on the other device. Plus, there is one more interesting feature that the messaging app has added. User will not have to scan the QR Code to link his device. He can just feed in his phone number on whatsapp web and he will be able to link his smartphone.

Uber pre-booking in 6 more cities

Ride-hailing app Uber will add pre-booking feature on its app in six more cities in India. These Cities are Kochi, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow and Guwahati. Currently, citizens living in metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR can use this feature. But Uber is gradually rolling out this feature in other cities as well. With the pre-booking feature which Uber refers to as the ‘Reserve’ facility, citizens can pre-book their rides 30 minutes to 90 days in advance. Moreover, now citizens will be able to make cash payment for pre-booking their rides. Earlier, the cash payment feature was not available.

Sebi advisory on NFOs

Sebi has directed mutual funds to keep NFOs open for subscription for at least three working days. Plus, AMCs will have to digitally send all final offer documents of a mutual fund scheme to the unitholders. Scheme information document or SID and key information memorandum or KIM are final offer documents of a mutual fund scheme. AMCs cannot send physical copies of these two documents to investors. These two documents will have to be digitally sent. Moreover, AMCs will to send these documents at least two working days before NFO opens for subscription. All AMCs will have to follow these rules from May 1, 2023.

MG drives in new E-vehicle

MG Motor has driven in a new 4 seater electric vehicle, MG Comet. The EV has ex-showroom price of Rs 7.98 lakh. The company claims that driving cost of the EV will be only 0.51 paise per kilometre. Users will be able to completely charge the EV in 7 hours, bookings will commence on May 15, 2023. The powertrain is available in five different shades. There will be two variants of the model.

Maruti declares Rs 90 dividend

Maruti Suzuki has recommended 90 rupees dividend for shareholders. Payment date is September 6, 2023. Apart from this, Maruti’s board announced that they are so optimistic on India’s automobile industry that Maruti will be manufacturing 10 lakh more vehicles every year. The Japanese automobile manufacturer is currently manufacturing 13 lakh vehicles every year in Manesar.

EPFO issues new circular on higher pension

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has issued a new circular for people who want to apply for higher pension option on PF contribution. The circular states that all documents and joint application forms for higher pension will be examined by the field officers. To opt for higher pension, employees are required to submit an agreement which will allow transfer of funds from PF to the pension fund. They will also have to submit a proof of their employer’s share in their provident fund account and and a joint option form. The last date to submit the application for the higher pension is May 3, 2023. rate of interest of PF was 8.15% for financial year 2023.

Vivo launches new smartphone

Chinese smartphone manufacturer VIVO has launched its latest X90 series phone in India. Vivo X90 series is the latest series from the house of Chinese smartphone manufacturer, VIVO. There are two variants of this smartphone for the Indian market. First is Vivo X90 and second one is Vivo X90 Pro. The lower variant, which is Vivo X90 is priced at Rs 59,999 rupees. While, the higher variant is priced at Rs 84,999. Some of other striking features include 6.78 inch display, 50 mega pixel primary camera and 32 mega pixel selfie snapper . According to most of tech websites, SBI, ICICI, HDFC, and IDFC bank account holders will get cashback offers on both of these smartphones.

 Bajaj Allianz decalres Rs 1.201-cr bonus

Bajaj Allianz Life has declared bumper Rs 1,201 cr bonus for participating policyholders. In 2022, Bajaj Allianz had paid bonus to over 11 lakh policyholders. Although, a portion of the bonus will be paid at the time of maturity or death of the policyholder. The insurance company will pay the bonus amount to those participating policyholders who had bought policies before March 31, 2023.

Ageas rolls out new life policy

Ageas Federal Life Insurance has rolled out a new life insurance plan at an affordable cost. Unique thing about this plan is that policyholder will get to increase the cover amount on getting married after purchasing of the policy. He can also increase cover amount when he becomes a parent or when he purchases his dream home on EMI. The policy holder will also get to choose different time periods of the policy. The policy is known as Ageas Federal Life Insurance iSecure Plan.