YouTube to restrict Premium Family Plan to single households

New Delhi: YouTube is preparing to tighten rules on its Premium Family Plan, restricting membership to people living in the same household. The move follows similar actions by other streaming platforms such as Netflix and Disney+, which have limited account sharing beyond a single address.

According to the report, some users have received emails from YouTube with the subject line, “Your YouTube Premium family membership will be paused.” The message explained that family plans require all members to reside in the same household as the family manager. If YouTube detects otherwise, Premium access will be revoked after 14 days.

The Premium Family Plan, priced at Rs 299 per month in India ($22.99 in the U.S., £19.99 in the U.K., and AU$22.99 in Australia), allows one account holder to share benefits with up to five other members. These include ad-free streaming, background play, offline viewing, and full access to YouTube Music.

In practice, this means those using family plans with relatives or friends in different homes will lose access. Only the account holder paying for the plan is likely to retain Premium, while others will revert to the free, ad-supported version.

The company uses an electronic check-in to verify household status, reportedly carried out every 30 days. If device location or account activity indicates that members are not in the same household, the account may be flagged.

The update has not yet been rolled out to all users. Many who are technically in violation of household rules have not received warning emails, suggesting this is an early stage of enforcement that could later expand more widely.

So far, YouTube has not confirmed which countries are affected, though reports from several regions suggest the changes are being rolled out gradually and may expand worldwide.