Google to Reinstate Delisted Indian Apps on its Play Store After Strong View from Government

Telecom and Information Technology Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw has said, “Google and startups have had a meeting with me. Google has agreed to restore all the apps.” The government had shown a tough stance on delisting these apps. Ashwini had said that Google cannot be allowed to do this. She said, “We believe that Google and Startups will be able to find long-term solutions in the coming months.”

Google claims that these app developers did not pay the Play Store fees for availing its services. For this reason they have been removed from Google’s Android app marketplace. Some companies had filed petitions in the Madras High Court challenging the billing policy of Google’s Play Store. These companies argue that Google charges heavy fees for its services. Google charges a service fee of 11 percent to 26 percent per download of a paid app. Apart from this, fees are also charged on purchases made in the app.

These companies include Unacademy, Kuku FM and Info Edge. According to the report of NDTV Profit, the High Court had rejected this appeal. However, the Supreme Court had agreed to hear the petitions filed by these companies. The Supreme Court had refused to give any interim order to Google not to delist the apps of these companies from the Play Store. These companies had written a letter to Google requesting it not to delist the apps until the Supreme Court hears the special permission petition on March 19. On this, Google said, “For years, no court or regulator has refused Google’s right to charge fees for its Play Store service. The Supreme Court also refused to interfere in our right to do so on February 9. It has been reported that only 60 app developers in the country are charging more than 15 percent.