We all know about the ongoing issue that platforms like Google Play Store and App Store have been facing currently. Many companies have blamed these platforms of Monopoly and their policies which are biased towards some companies. The issues were really persistent with Apple’s App Store, but now it seems more and more companies are also reporting the same issue for Google Play Store as well. This time, it’s the Indian Startup companies that have gone against the policies of Google Play Store for forcing apps with in-app purchases to use its “expensive and unaffordable” billing system.
Google currently levies a 30% commission in comparison to 1.5-2% levied by external gateways that were used by the developers. While the policies are not new and existed earlier as well, it has been enforced in India with full effect. This has led to a lot of disruption in the app industry and especially for dating, education, video and music-on-demand, and other apps that rely on in-app purchases but not those for physical deliveries such as eCommerce. The startups think that this is a very unfair policy for companies who have just started and it shows Play Store’s monopoly due to the dominance of Google’s Android system.
Many new startup companies have claimed that it could certainly lead to the closure of many new smaller companies. As per Google, the app developers can use websites to transact with consumers or opt for other app stores in the market, as a resolution for this issue. As per Google, the policy will only affect 3% of the total apps, however, the effect seems to be much bigger in real terms. The move has been really on the move ever since Paytm was removed from the Playstore. As per many Indian companies, Google is abusing its dominance in the search advertising to enter and protect the payment gateway market.