The Google vs start-ups row has taken a rather unexpected turn, with the Indian government intervening, saying that delisting of Indian apps cannot be permitted. Subsequently, some of the apps which were de-listed from Play Store, such as Naukri, 99acres and Shaadi.com, are now back on the app. Taking a stern view on Google’s action, IT and Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said the fate of the start-up ecosystem, which is key to the Indian economy, cannot be left to any tech giants to decide. He shared that the government has called Google and the affected start-ups for a meeting this week.
Google’s decision to remove the apps, meanwhile, has evoked strong reactions from the affected companies as well as industry experts. The Internet and Mobile Association of India too has condemned this move calling it “unfair and disproportionate”.
Founders lash out
Ravi Mittal, founder of dating app Quack Quack, one of the affected companies, said, “Google has shown what we have been fighting for three years - it's dominance and zero-regard for laws.”
Mittal also claimed that Google hasn't enforced the de-listing on all the non-complaint apps. “Only these 10 apps have been removed. This is just because they can tell a story in the interest of competition,” he claimed.
Matrimony.com’s Founder & CEO Murugavel Janakiraman called the whole incident as ‘dark day for Indian digital start-ups’. “They deleted all our apps; over 100 including BharatMatrimony, TamilMatrimony, MarathiMatrimony, Jodii, etc,” he wrote in a post.
Sharing a little background to the scenario, Janakiraman mentioned that Google tried to implement GBPS a few years ago where it forced digital services apps to use their billing system and pay 15% or 30% of revenue compared to less than 2% what apps pay for using other payment gateways. “We went to CCI and CCI levied Rs. 936 CR penalty on Google.”
What Experts Say
Industry experts have reacted very strongly to the incident, with some of them suggesting it’s high time India had its own app store and not rely on the likes of global names like Google or Apple.
PhonePe recently launched the Indus Appstore for Indian companies. The Co-founder and CPO of Indus Appstore, in a recent LinkedIn post, shared, “We are thrilled to announce that in just 10 days post-launch on February 21st, Indus Appstore has soared past 300K+ downloads!”
However, Mittal pointed out that the Indus Appstore itself needs to grow first.
“Integration with ad platforms is the next big question which is controlled by Facebook and Google. Also, user affinity is with Google Play Store,” he said.
Digital experts agree that currently the global app platform has a monopolistic grip in the market. Sajal Gupta, Chief Executive, Kiaos Marketing adds, “It is important that in India we have the government regulators stepping in to ensure that an equilibrium is maintained. In the current standoff between Google Play Store and the Indian apps, the government intervention has worked towards restoring some of the apps. This regulatory pressure needs to be maintained to ensure an equal playing field for all app businesses.”
As a secondary measure, Gupta says, building an Indian app store is also being talked about in the market. “Building the popularity and usage of such a platform will take time and capital which the app businesses will afford in this fast-moving market.”
What Happened
Google on Friday announced that it was taking down a few apps from the store for non-adherence to the platform’s billing policies. The developers, according to a Google spokesperson, were given 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,” the spokesperson added.
CCI Verdict
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in its verdict ruled:
- Google shall allow, and not restrict, any app developers using third party billing/payment processing services. It shall not take any discriminate or otherwise any adverse measure against such apps for using third party billing
- Google shall not impose any conditions (including pricing related conditions) on app developers which is unfair, unreasonable, discriminatory or disproportionate to the services provided to the app developers.
According to Murugavel Janakiraman, “Instead of adhering to the CCI order, Google changed their policy asking companies to pay 11% or 26% of commission for using a third-party billing system. Also, they introduced a third option where apps can’t collect payment through the app,” Janakiraman added.
Experts further shared that this policy is applicable only to digital services apps. According to Janakiraman, Google doesn’t offer any special services for digital services apps compared to various other commercial digital apps like e.g. e-commerce apps, B2B apps, food delivery apps, etc. While the play store is common for all, only digital services companies are forced to pay. This violates CCI order 395.6.”
e4m has learnt that Google is enforcing a 11%-26% commission on each transaction to itself, and this is what ticked the founders off. Following this move, the founders of these apps had approached the Madras High Court as well as the Supreme Court challenging the tech giant’s billing policies.
Shaadi.com’s Anupam Mittal and Kuku FM’s LalChand Bisu also expressed their concerns. While Shaadi.com has been restored on the store, reports state that Mittal is exploring legal action against Google, considering the delisting has already taken a hit to the app’s downloads and brand image.
