Google has warned that it will start removing Indian apps from the Play Store if developers don't follow its billing policies, taking a decisive step towards a three-year-old problem in India, its largest user market. Ta. Google said 10 companies in the country, including “many well-known” companies it did not disclose, were avoiding paying fees despite benefiting from the platform.
The Android maker, owned by Alphabet Inc., said it objected to a small group of developers in India that had spent more than three years preparing to comply with Play Store payment policies. Google says these companies will continue to comply with other app stores' payment policies.
Google will begin removing some apps starting Friday, according to people familiar with the matter. Android apps for marriage platform Shaadi, Alt Balaji's Altt, Matrimony.com's Jodii, and dating service Quack Quack have disappeared from the Play Store.
“After giving these developers more than three years to prepare, including three weeks from the Supreme Court’s order, we ensured that our policies are eco-friendly, just as we do for all forms of policy violations around the world. “We are taking the necessary steps to ensure that it is applied consistently across our systems,” he wrote in a blog post. “Where appropriate, enforcing our policies may include removing non-compliant apps from Google Play.”
More than a dozen companies in India have challenged Google's Play Store billing policies in recent years, saying they charge too much for the services it provides. The companies that filed the petition in the Madras High Court include Bharat Matrimony, Shadi.com, Unacademy, Kuku FM, Alt Digital Media and Indian internet technology giant Info Edge, which operates popular recruitment platform Naukri. Disney's Hotstar and Tinder have also challenged Google's policies in India.
Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikchandani told TechCrunch that Google sent a notice to his company stating that companies that don't follow the rules will be delisted. Info Edge complies with Google's rules, he added.
“We have been complying with the Supreme Court's order since February 9, when it was issued. We have no pending invoices with Google,” he added.
India is a key overseas market for Google, which has invested billions of dollars in the past decade and now serves more than 500 million people. The company announced on Friday that its Android and Play Store ecosystems will together support over 2.5 million jobs in India in 2022, with only 3% of Indian developers required to pay service fees in the country. . The company says fewer than 50 developers in India are facing fees of more than 15%.
Google's comments on Friday came after the Madras High Court in January rejected petitions from several Indian tech companies against Google's new user-choice billing system.
“We have always respected local laws. For years, courts and regulators have not denied Google Play the right to charge for the value and services it provides,” Google said in a blog post. Stated. “On February 9th, the Supreme Court also refused to interfere with our rights. Some of the developers who were denied interim protection have begun to participate fairly in our business model and ecosystem. , some developers have chosen to find a way not to participate.”
Google said in a blog post that a small group of developers who don't pay while using the Play Store creates an “unequal playing field across the ecosystem” and puts other apps and games at a “competitive disadvantage.” He wrote that he was exposed to “points”.
A small group of developers can maintain continuity in the Android ecosystem by resubmitting their apps under the rules or partnering with alternative app stores, Google wrote.
To submit an app to the Play Store, developers must choose one of Google Play's 3 billion options. It is consumption-only, with no service fees, and is integrated with Google Play's billing system (developers agree to pay long-term fees to Google). ), or provide an alternative billing system (reducing developer fees).
This article has been updated to note that Android apps for matrimonial platform Shaadi, Alt Balaji's Altt, Matrimony.com's Jodii, and dating service Quack Quack are no longer accessible on the Play Store.