Following the trend of the last two years, Microsoft India has announced an update to its prices of online services and commercial software. The new prices will begin to reflect on the Microsoft site from February 1, 2024, in which commercial on-premises software and online services such as Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 will witness a price rise of 6%. The updated prices will come close to the USD pricing in the region of Asia.
The company further informed that business customers who have already placed orders under volume licensing agreements, will not be impacted by the price change, since a product that is subjected to price protection means that the agreed-upon price at the time of order will be maintained.
However, for any new products added to the existing volume licensing agreement, the prices for the additions will be determined by the current price list at the time of the order. The same goes for any new contract for the products. Unlike the existing orders, there is no price protection for new contracts, and the prices will be as per the updated pricelist at the time of order.
Microsoft also clarified that Microsoft products sold through resellers will have prices and currency, established by the reseller.
Microsoft’s mail to its customers said:
“Microsoft India is announcing Indian rupee pricelist changes to harmonize its prices for commercial software and online services between India and the Asian region, effective February 1, 2024. Microsoft periodically assesses the impact of its local pricing for software products and online services to ensure there is reasonable alignment across regions and this change is an outcome of this assessment.
Starting February 1, 2024, Indian rupee prices for commercial on-premises software will increase by 6%, online services will also increase by 6% to realign close to prevailing USD pricing levels in the Asian region. On Microsoft.com, revised Indian rupee prices for direct sales to India-based customers for a select set of online services such as Microsoft 365, and Dynamics 365 will be reflected as of February 1, 2024. For business customers, these changes will not affect existing orders under volume licensing agreements for products that are subject to price protection. However, prices for new product additions under such volume licensing agreements and purchases under new contracts will be as defined by the pricelist at the time of order. Customers across India buying online services in the Indian rupee will continue to find Microsoft Cloud offerings highly competitive.
For indirect sales where Microsoft products are sold through resellers, final prices and currency of sale will continue to be determined by resellers.”
The company first hiked its prices after nearly a decade in 2022 by 20% due to the increase in demand for its services during the pandemic. And further increased its prices by an additional 11% in 2023.
The consecutive increase in prices is bound to affect small and medium-sized businesses, however to what extent, is yet to be seen.
Image credit: Freepik
