Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw
– Photo: Social Media
Seeing the government’s tough stance on the bill payment dispute, Google has reversed its decision to remove apps of Indian companies from the Play Store. He restored all the apps removed on Saturday on the Play Store. The company came on the backfoot after the intervention of Union Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnav.
Vaishnav clearly said that this attitude of Google is not acceptable. No single big company can decide the fate of Indian startups. He has called the affected companies and Google for a meeting next week to quickly resolve the dispute. Vaishnav said, India has created a strong ecosystem of more than one lakh startups and 100 unicorns in 10 years. The energy of youth and entrepreneurs must be channelized and cannot be left to the policies of big technology companies. The policy of the Government of India is very clear. Our startups will get the protection they need.
It is noteworthy that due to the bill dispute, Google on Friday removed Indian tech company Info Edge’s Naukri.com, 99 Acre, Jeevansathi and Shiksha app along with Kooku FM, Bharat Matrimony, Truly Madly, Quack-Quack, Stage and Altity. Was. Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani said that his app has been following Google’s billing policy since February 9. Even after this, their app was arbitrarily removed from the Play Store.
Dispute regarding fee on app payment
There is a dispute between Indian companies and Google regarding fees on app payments. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had ordered Google to end the old system of charging 15 to 30 percent, after which Google started charging 11-26 percent on app payments. Indian companies have filed a petition in the Supreme Court against Google, demanding an interim ban on Google’s fees. The next hearing in this case is to be held on March 19.
Do not remove the app until the decision from the court.
The Internet and Mobile Association of India has asked Google not to remove apps of Indian companies from the Play Store until the matter is in the Supreme Court.