Google has commenced taking down from the Play Store the apps of the ten Indian companies, including prominent matrimony and dating apps in the country, that remained non-compliant with the tech giant’s app billing policy for an extended period of time.

The tech giant’s decision to remove the apps comes in the wake of continued non-payment of service fees by these companies and their refusal to comply with the updated Payment Policy for the Google Play Store. 

It also comes three weeks after the Supreme Court refused to grant any interim protection to domestic start-ups against the removal of the apps from the Play Store by Google.

The ten domestic companies whose apps have been taken down include Shaadi.com, QuackQuack, Stage, InfoEdge-owned portals naukri.com, and 99acres.com.

The ongoing dispute centred around domestic start-ups’ opposition to Google’s disproportionately high service fee of up to 26 per cent on in-app purchases and app downloads from PlayStore.

While confirming its move to enforce its payments policy (read it as app removal), Google, however, refrained from naming these companies in its blog post on Friday.

“After giving these developers (ten companies) more than three years to prepare, including three weeks after the Supreme Court’s order, we are taking necessary steps to ensure our policies are applied consistently across the ecosystem, as we do for any form of policy violation globally,” said Google’s blog post.

Google highlighted that there are over 2 lakh Indian developers using Google Play, and these developers adhere to the tech giant’s policies. However, for an extended period of time, ten companies, including many well-established ones, have chosen to not pay for the immense value they receive on Google Play by securing interim protections from the court. These developers comply with payment policies of other App stores, Google noted.

“While we always try to work with developers to help them through our policies and find feasible solutions, allowing a 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.

Unilateral & Arbitrary

Meanwhile, most companies that faced the brunt of Google’s latest action decried the tech giant’s move, describing it as “unilateral and arbitrary” and violative of the CCI order. This action of app removal sets a concerning precedent for app developers in India, challenging the very principles of a free and fair digital marketplace, they said.

Sanjeev Bikhchandani, founder and executive vice chairman of InfoEdge, said that Indian companies will comply—for now. “But what India needs is an App Store/Play Store that is a part of digital public infrastructure, like UPI and ONDC”, he said in an ‘X’ post.

Anupam Mittal, Founder & CEO, People Group (Shaadi.com), said that Google has delisted some of the most well-known apps in India without any forewarning, and this is a blatant violation of the CCI order.

The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) said in a statement that it was deeply disappointed and concerned by the unilateral and arbitrary actions of Google, which has shown complete disregard for the ongoing legal proceedings and the interests of the Indian app ecosystem. 

“By delisting apps and issuing blog posts, Google is trying to intimidate and coerce the developers who have dared to challenge its exploitative policies. This is not a matter of ten developers, but a matter of the entire Indian digital sector that is being threatened by Google’s dominance and monopoly,” an ADIF spokesperson said.

Ravi Mittal, Founder & CEO of QuackQuack, said, “In a move that undermines the spirit of innovation and competition, our app’s delisting by Google over the user choice billing issue marks a regressive step for digital entrepreneurship.”.

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