Google to reinstate all delisted Indian apps on its Play store after govt intervenes

Google agreed to reinstate the apps after a government intervention got the two sides talking to resolve a dispute over service fee payments.

Telecom and Information & Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the US tech giant has been supporting India’s technology development journey.

“Google and the startup community have met with us, (and) we have had very constructive discussions…Google has agreed to list all the apps,” he said.

With Google delisted the apps, the Indian government took strong exception to the removal, calling it ‘unacceptable’.

Following this, Google started restoring some apps on Saturday that agreed to comply with its guideline to pay a fee of 11-25 percent on in-app payments or do financial transactions outside of the app.

ALSO READ: Google’s move will cause ‘irreparable harm to the market’: Indian startups’ plea to CCI on app delisting row

In a bid to find a solution to the crisis that was being labelled as a dark day for the internet by some, both Vaishnaw and Minister of State for Information and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar held multiple rounds of discussions with Google and the app owners on Monday.

Vaishnaw on Tuesday announced that Google has agreed to restore the status of Friday morning i.e. pre-delisting.

“We believe Google, and the startup community will be able to come to a long-term solution in coming months,” he said, indicating the two sides will now sit down and thrash out the issue of levy of service charge.

According to details, India is the world’s largest consumer internet market for tech giants like Meta and Google. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government using its geopolitical clout effectively, they can’t afford to either ignore the Indian market or ride roughshod over it.

A day after Google delisted the apps, Vaishnaw revealed the government’s thinking and said the removal was unacceptable and that the “startups will get the protection they need”.

The government thereafter called the two sides for a meeting on Monday to resolve the issue.

Earlier in 2020, Google had briefly removed popular payments app Paytm from its Play Store, citing some policy violations. This led to a widespread industry cry and startups joining hands to mount legal challenges against the tech giant. Later, they even joined hands to launch their own app store.

With agency inputs.

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Published: 05 Mar 2024, 04:52 PM IST