More than a dozen well-known apps were removed by Google from the Play Store in India on Friday, intensifying a three-year conflict in the largest market for the firm among consumers. Google had before warned that it would take action against developers who have consistently disregarded its pricing standards. Even though they benefited from the platform, Google claimed ten businesses nationwide – including “many well-established” names had avoided paying fees.
The Alphabet-owned Google claimed that a small team of Indian developers had over three years to be ready and adhere to the Play Store’s payment policy, but they chose not to. Google stated that these companies are still abiding by the payment guidelines of other app stores. On Friday, Google removed few Android apps related to the matchmaking services Shaadi, Matrimony.com, and Bharat Matrimony. Info Edge’s 99acres and Naukri, Kuku FM and Stage, audio storytelling apps, and Alt Balaji’s Altt dating service QuackQuack were removed from the store.
The CEO of Bharat Matrimony, Murugavel Janakiraman, stated that Google has removed more than ten of the apps developed by the Indian company from the store. According to Bharat Matrimony, Google has disregarded an Indian antitrust watchdog’s directive to delete the apps immediately, and the company is considering its legal options. The CEO of Kuku FM and co-founder Lal Chand Bisu claimed that the Android manufacturer was “completely” in control of the Indian startup environment and had become “the most evil” business partner.
Google, a member of IAMAI, has been urged not to remove any apps from Google Play, according to a statement released by the industry association IAMAI, which represents some of the most prominent Indian startups and foreign companies. The trade association attested to the fact that Google had notified a minimum of four members of the organization. “After giving these developers 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,” Google wrote on its website.
