The DVD rental by mail industry was pioneered by the US company Netflix, launched in 1999 to take advantage of the power of the internet and easy delivery of DVDs by post, while eliminating hated late fees. In India, online rentals have only really taken off since 2005, and even now, not many people have heard of them. Unlike the West where DVDs are sent through the postal system, in India nearly all providers rely on courier services. There are three main reasons online rental penetration lags the West--internet penetration is lower, low price (and quality) pirated copies are common, and most consumers are still reluctant to make online payments, though this is changing in the cities and will continue to spread.

Current Indian subscribers are mainly the affluent, nonetheless, the room for growth is astounding--one study estimated in 2006, 3% of Indian households had DVD players, but by 2011, this would rise to 25%, and concluded rentals would remain the chief means for watching DVDs. The expansion down the socioeconomic ladder is likely as online rentals are actually economical for renters. A DVD parlour may charge Rs 80, or a bit less, for one DVD, but there are plenty of online services that work out to under Rs 50 per disc, especially the higher volume or unlimited services--and all from the comfort of your own home.

This explosion in Indian online rentals will probably pick up for several years to come (longer than in the West, where transition to downloaded video on demand is only a few years off), as the service goes mainstream. Over time, just as in the West, this will drive many traditional video shops out of business in the process. For comparison, Screen Digest research indicates that by 2009, rental-by-post will account for nearly two-thirds of all British video rental transactions (and one-third of rental activity in Europe), with India likely to fall around the one-quarter mark in our opinion.

Given the courier-based nature of Indian DVD rental, most companies only serve certain metropolitan areas (see our rankings for Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore services where there is plenty of competition) and there is yet to be a truly large-scale, nationwide service. The market is led by well-funded Seventymm, but other top players include Movie Mart, Cinesprite, Clixflix, Madhouse, Catchflix as well as several smaller firms.

We at India-DVD-Rental-Guide.com will continue to guide the way through this growing market with our reviews and rankings, helping you pick the best.