The minister said Google has been supporting India’s technology development journey.
Indian Apps On Play Store: Telecom and Information & Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday informed that tech giant Google has agreed to reinstate all the delisted apps of Indian companies on its Play Store. This happened after a government intervention got the two sides talking to resolve a dispute over service fee payments, said Vaishnaw.
The minister who got Google and the startups to the negotiating table said the company has been supporting India’s technology development journey.
“Google and the startup community have met with us, (and) we have had very constructive discussions. Google has agreed to list all the apps,” he said.
For the unversed, the tech giant Google had on Friday removed 12 developers, including popular ones by Matrimony.com and job search app Naukri from its Play Store apps for “non-compliance” with its in-app payment guidelines.
However, after the government took strong exception to the move, calling it unacceptable, Google restored some apps beginning Saturday that agreed to comply with its guideline to pay a fee of 11-25 per cent on in-app payments or do financial transactions outside of the app.
Along with Vaishnaw, Minister of State for Information and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar held multiple rounds of discussions with Google and the app owners on Monday in a bid to find a solution to the crisis that was being labeled as a “dark day for the internet” by some.
Vaishnaw announced on Tuesday that Google has agreed to restore the status of Friday morning i.e. pre-delisting.
“We believe Google and the startup community will be able to come to a long-term solution in coming months,” he said, indicating the two sides will now sit down and sort out the matter of levy of service charge.
India is the world’s largest consumer internet market for tech giants like Meta and Google.
A day after Google delisted the apps, the government called the two sides for a meeting on Monday to resolve the issue.
The root of the problem is Google’s in-app fee. While Google says the fees help develop and promote the Android and Play Store ecosystem, startups say the tech giant was forcing them to use its payment system and pay a fee, failing which they were being offloaded by Play Store.
While removing the apps, Google had on Friday stated that some Indian companies had chosen not to pay for the “immense value they receive on Google Play”.
Among the worst hit by the removals is Matrimony.com which has seen more than 140 of its apps being dropped from Play Store. Other apps removed included Balaji Telefilms’ Altt (formerly ALTBalaji), audio platform Kuku FM, dating service Quack Quack, and Truly Madly.
(With PTI inputs)