With resistance rising among Indian technology startups and developers over its payment policies, Google has deferred the enforcement of 30 per cent commission on in-app purchases of digital goods from its Play Store in India to April 2022. The search engine giant is “listening” to the Indian startup and app developer community to understand its concerns and is ready to “find ways” to ensure both sides can be successful together, the Economic Times reported on Monday citing Sameer Samat, VP of product management at Google.
The fee comes into effect in September next year globally. “It’s not good for anyone if our partners feel they can’t grow and be successful,” Samat said. “So we’re deeply committed to the Indian ecosystem. We will be engaging, we will be finding ways (so) that we can grow together.”
The decision comes in the backdrop of Indian startups, led by Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma, planning their own alliance in hopes of mounting a legal challenge against what they feel are unfair practices by Google. Paytm has gone a step further and launched a mini-app store to support Indian developers, in a direct challenge to Google’s dominance in the space. More than 300 apps, including Decathlon, Ola, Rapido, Netmeds, 1MG, Domino’s Pizza, FreshMenu, NoBroker, have joined the Paytm app store, the company said.
Additionally, Google said in a blog post that the deferment is “to ensure they have enough time to implement the UPI for subscription option that will be made available on Google Play — for all apps that currently use an alternative payment system”, the company said in a
Google is also setting up “listening sessions with leading Indian startups” to understand their concerns. Additionally, it is planning Policy Workshops to provide clarity on its Play Store policies. “We consider it extremely important to understand the concerns across the ecosystem, and these listening sessions over the next several weeks will help us find comprehensive solutions that work for everyone,” the company noted.
The developments are a direct fallout of Google's hasty taking down of Paytm from its play store for violating the company's guidelines. The app was restored back again after a few hours. In more resentment, Google issued a notice to food delivery apps Zomato and Swiggy for violating play store guidelines for using in-app gamification features. There's a widespread discontent in the industry, which feels that Google is acting too much as a regulator.
