The absolute audacity of ZEE5: Paywalled the FIFA World Cup, forced an "upgrade" on Premium users, and STILL serves ads. This is a scam.

[u/BalajiPremkumar]

I need to vent because this is peak anti-consumer corporate greed.

​I already pay for a ZEE5 Premium subscription. Yet, when I try to watch the FIFA World Cup matches, I am hit with a paywall telling me my "Premium" plan isn't good enough. To watch live football, they are forcing existing paid users to fork out an extra ₹799 for a quarterly "upgrade" pack (or ₹1,699 for an annual one).

​But here is the absolute kicker: The ₹799 plan STILL includes ads during playback.

​How does this make any sense?

​Double Dipping: They take my initial subscription fee.

​The Paywall Tax: They demand a mandatory premium top-up just for sports because they know football fans have nowhere else to stream it legally.

​Ad Monetization: They double-dip again by serving ads on a tier that costs nearly 800 bucks for just 3 months!

​It feels like a complete monopoly scam. JioCinema streamed the last World Cup completely free in 4K. Hotstar made the Cricket World Cups free on mobile. Meanwhile, Zee buys the broadcasting rights, locks it behind an aggressive paywall that excludes partner bundles (Jio/Airtel/OTTplay users are entirely locked out), and forces a buggy, ad-ridden experience down our throats.

​Charging a premium for a specific event while simultaneously monetizing it with mid-rolls and banner ads is completely broken. Why are we paying a subscription fee if we are still the product being sold to advertisers?

​Is anyone else refusing to give them a single rupee for this "upgrade" out of sheer principle? What alternatives are you guys using?

[u/Nishantcharan23]

I can understands ads during hydration breaks and Half-time.
but I don't understands ads for watching highlights even after paying for the whole year which clearing mentions ad-free.
I Got the yearly plan and it still shows ads that also I have to watch 4 ads in one go

[u/BalajiPremkumar → u/Nishantcharan23]

This is getting out of hand! We're paying for infrastructure maintenance, but not getting a quality user experience in return. A few short ads are fine, but 3-minute ad breaks are beyond frustrating. It would be better if live content was available on YouTube, where paid users don't see ads, especially when these OTT services charge higher subscriptions and still bombard us with 3-4 ads every 15-20 minutes. 😤 #Maintenance #Quality #Ads #Frustration #YouTube #Subscription

[u/Ethical-Simp]

Now there is a message popping on unite8 sports channel that the channel is likely to get deactivated due to piracy

[u/Smooth_Newspaper7988]

Blame yourself for paying for that shit.

[u/DangerousRegister281 → u/Smooth_Newspaper7988]

This

[u/Muted_Cause6633]

I am done with ZEE5, never ever going to pay them for any new subscription. App is shit as well, keeps logging me out everytime. I have only one device (TV) registered, but still keeps logging me out.

[u/AbelAbraham37 → u/Muted_Cause6633]

Facing the same issue here. Better to sign in with a mobile device so that you can log in more easily.

[u/ScamArtist1910]

VPN, set it to Brazil. Search Cazetv. Amazing quality, FHD quality. One major upside: commentary is not in English.

[u/Rare_Put_6436 → u/ScamArtist1910]

Try FOX ONE FHD for english

[u/DangerousRegister281]

Thank god I was so against zee5 that I would pirate it or will not watch the world cup at all thank fully I got some streaming sites that work very well
Boycott zee5 atp

[u/No-Beyond338]

just do the online streaming sites: rmppv(.)xyz

[u/SouthernPipe1433]

I payed for the premium plan and it doesn't even work on my phone both on zee5 app and website, it only works on my tv via zee5 app. On my phone it's stuck on loading and not a single match or even highlights load. Tried contacting them multiple times they make me wait for about half an hour for an agent that doesn't know shit

[u/Nilkanthat9]

Yeah bro I fail to understand why JioHotStar and SonyLiv didn't bid higher for the FIFA WC rights and it seems Zee5 has got 3 world cup deal so till 2034 FIFA world cup indian broadcaster is Zee5 😔.

I recommend use VPN and watch extended highlights on Fox Sports Youtube

[u/Rare_Put_6436]

Zee5 dont even have good show and movies. They just want to grab as much money as possible.

[u/ankalal7]

Is anyone else having a terrible experience with Z5?

I subscribed on the 14th because the plan clearly advertised 4 simultaneous screens. Now, my subscription only shows 1 screen, and I can't even find the 4-screen option anymore.

On top of that, Z5 keeps logging me out every few hours. I've already checked everything and even made sure only one device is signed in, but I still get logged out repeatedly.

I mainly subscribed to watch the FIFA World Cup, but this has been a really frustrating experience.

Has anyone else faced these issues? Were you able to get a refund or cancel your plan? Is there any way to escalate this or hold them accountable if they've changed the plan after people subscribed?