Telegram has slashed the monthly subscription fee for its premium tier by more than half in India, just months after introducing the offering as it tries to aggressively cash in on a large user base in one of its biggest markets.

In a message to users in India on Saturday, Telegram said it was making the subscription available in the country at a discount. The monthly subscription now costs customers 179 Indian rupees ($2.2), down from 469 Indian rupees ($5.74) earlier. The app’s monthly subscription, called Telegram Premium, costs between $4.99 to $6 in every other market.

According to them, users who didn't get the message can also view the new price in the app settings section. They confirmed that independently by TechCrunch.

India is one of the world's largest markets for Telegram, and the instant messaging application has gained more than 120 million monthly active users in the country, with data.ai analytics firm. It was shared by an industry executive with TechCrunch. That makes the app the most popular in its category following WhatsApp, which has courted over half a billion in the South Asian market.

Telegram, that says it has more than 700 million monthly active users worldwide, launched the service in June this year. It says it hopes such an option will help bring it a better financial life and a chance to sustain a free tier. Premium users enjoy a myriad of extra services like having the ability to follow up to 1,000 channels, sending larger file sizes up to 4GB, and faster download speeds.

The Dubai-based company joins a list of global tech firms that offer their services for lower cost in India. Apple's music app charges $1.2 for the individual monthly plan in the country, whereas Netflix's offerings start as low as $1.83 in the country.