 "Ashwini Vaishnaw")
Tech giant Google on Tuesday agreed to temporarily reinstate the delisted apps of Indian companies and restore status quo after meeting Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and members of the startup community.
“In the spirit of cooperation, we are temporarily reinstating the apps of the developers with appeals pending in the Supreme Court. Google maintains its right to implement and enforce its business model, as established in various courts,” a Google spokesperson said.
The tech giant has, however, said it will begin ‘invoicing’ its full applicable services fees in the interim, but was extending payment timelines for these companies, until a resolution is achieved in courts.
“We look forward to a collaborative effort to find solutions that respect the needs of all parties,” the company said.
Earlier in the day, Vaishnaw held another round of discussions with representatives from the affected startups and Google, where he asked the tech major to reinstate the apps as they were on March 1, 2024, before getting removed from the Play Store.
“Google and the startup community have met us, and we have had a constructive discussion. Google has agreed to list all the apps,” Vaishnaw said, in an interaction with PTI.
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“We believe that Google and the startup community will be able to come to a long-term solution in the coming months,” he added.
Play Store levies a 15-30 per cent fee for in-app purchases and subscriptions for those using Google’s billing system.
For developers that choose its third-party billing option, Google levies a commission of 11-26 per cent, marking a reduction of 4 per cent on the service fee.
People Group Chief Executive Officer Anupam Mittal thanked Vaishnaw and Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar for their intervention on the issue.
Several applications from the group were delisted from Google Play Store on Friday, including the popular Shaadi.com app.
“Google was immediately asked to restore the apps as was prior to March 1, and this should happen within 24 hours,” said Mittal.
“We want to ensure developers have freedom of choice in choosing payment gateways and let market forces determine their operating costs,” he added.
Snehil Khanor, the chief executive officer of dating platform TrulyMadly, whose app was also delisted on Friday, said that with Google reverting to status quo, the platforms will be able to utilise direct payment integrations similar to those used by other apps such as Amazon and Uber.
“However, Google will still implement a fee structure, invoicing 11-26 per cent of the app's revenue, representing a significant financial burden for app developers,” he added.
“The app developers and Google representatives have also agreed to establish a forum to facilitate ongoing dialogue aimed at reaching a resolution within the next 100-120 days,” Khanor said.
“As digital startups continue to innovate and drive growth, we trust that the government’s support will be steadfast. We are hopeful for a swift and favorable consideration of the pending case with the CCI, which will be a significant step forward for the digital economy,” said Prateek Jain, associate director, ADIF.
The contention between Indian startups and Google started on Friday, when the tech giant pulled down apps like shaadi.com, matrimony.com, naukri.com, and TrulyMadly, among others for not complying with its user choice billing system.
