Microsoft India has announced a 15% price increase for Office 365 Home from 8 January 2019. Buy now to beat the price rise and extend your Office 365 subscription.
The current price for Office 365 Home is INR4,619 – which has been the price since January 2017 when Microsoft raised the Indian price by 10%.
The new price will be INR 5,299 a 14.79% increase, which is way above inflation.
That’s not all
Microsoft India quotes prices BEFORE the 18% GST is applied. That’s unusual but we’re told it’s legal.
So the real price paid is about INR 6,252 about INR1,000 more than Microsoft’s quoted price.
Office 365 Personal
Office 365 Personal is also getting a price hike. The monthly price is rising from INR 360 to INR. 420.
We’ve not been able to find the new annual price. The current Office 365 Personal price is INR 3,599.
Why?
Microsoft has its standard double-speak ready to explain the price increase:
“Microsoft periodically assess its pricing to ensure reasonable alignment with the needs of customers, partners and the marketplace, and may make changes in response to that assessment and feedback.”
Translation: Microsoft realised they were undercharging in India and decided they’d make some more money in the sub-continent.
Money Saving tips
Shop around. The prices we’re quoting are the official prices from Microsoft direct. You should be able to get a better price from another retailer. Amazon India has better prices on both Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal.
Avoid MicrosoftStore.com
We’ve been saying it for years, the worst place to buy Microsoft products is their online store. You’ll always pay the highest price. Even the occasional ‘special prices’ are beaten by other sellers.
Use MicrosoftStore.com only to get the latest high price info, then go elsewhere to buy. Remember to include the GST when comparing prices.
Reminder: renewals don’t have to be done via Microsoft either. Get the best price you can and use the product key to renew.
Renew Now
Advance notice of the price increase is an opportunity to save. Buy a year or two of Office 365 and apply it to your subscription before the price increase happens on 8 January 2019.
Indian Office 365 customers, like Office 365 users around the world, can extend their subscription at any time. Office 365 can be purchased ahead for up to 5 years.
