Google has, in the interim, “agreed to restore” all the apps that it had delisted from the app marketplace since Friday, people in the know said.
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Earlier in the day, communications and information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the removal of apps in such a manner could not be permitted.
“India is very clear, our policy is very clear … our startups will get the protection that they need,” he told a news agency. “I have already called Google, I have already called the app developers which have been delisted, we will be meeting them next week. This cannot be permitted. This kind of de-listing cannot be permitted,” he said.
The government would work with both sides to find a solution, a senior official told ET.
Minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar also questioned Google’s decision to delist the apps from its Play Store.
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The removal of apps in such a manner “impacts the government’s goal of keeping the internet open and making sure consumer choices are not distorted and there is no market power abuse”, Chandrasekhar said. “This is an area of ongoing concern. The fact that 93-94% of all apps are on one Google Play Store and that is controlled by one company which has vertically integrated dominance is an area of concern,” he said.
Google did not respond to an email seeking comment.
On Friday, Google removed multiple apps of ten major developers from its Play Store citing “non-compliance” with its billing policies. These include the apps of Naukri owner Info Edge India, Bharat Matrimony, People Group’s Shaadi, dating apps Truly Madly and QuackQuack, video-streaming platform Stage, Balaji Telefilms’ Altt and audio streaming app Kuku FM.
On Saturday, some of these apps were restored on the app marketplace as they agreed to remain “as consumption apps only”, People Group founder Anupam Mittal said in a post on microblogging platform X.
Being only a consumption app, which doesn’t allow in-app billing, will destroy the consumer side of the business in the longer-term, he said, responding to a tweet from Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani, who said App Store had restored most of the company’s apps.
The removal of apps and allowing them back without in-app billing will lead to major losses in business for them, startup founders told ET.
“We will definitely lose major business with regard to new users and returning users who aren’t able to find the app on Play Store. This has brought our business to a halt,” QuackQuack founder Ravi Mittal told ET.
Companies and developers across the world have been at odds with Google since 2021 after the tech giant levied commissions as high as 30% for all in-app purchases. The US-headquartered company also changed other policies which startups claimed were anti-competitive and hurt their revenue.
Though Google brought down its commissions, app developers, including those in India, said that the Play Store owner’s policies remained restrictive.
The company, however, claims that only ten Indian developers using Google Play had chosen not to pay for the services, while more than 200,000 others adhered to its billing policies.
“Allowing this small group of developers to get differential treatment from the vast majority of developers who are paying their fair share creates an uneven playing field across the ecosystem and puts all other apps and games at a competitive disadvantage,” Google said in a blog post on Friday.