Google removes 10 Indian apps from Play Store in crackdown – find out why and see the list

Google India has recently removed 10 Indian mobile applications, including well-known ones such as Bharat Matrimony, Info Edge’s 99acres, and Naukri.com, from the Google Play Store. This action was taken due to a disagreement over service fee payments demanded by Google for in-app transactions, with these companies failing to meet the Play Store’s payment requirements.

The move has sparked a huge controversy with InfoEdge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandan even calling for the creation of an Indian mobile app store as part of the “digital public infrastructure” as a rival to the Google Play store. dominates the market here.

Due to these alleged violations of payment rules, the tech giant issued notices to the companies behind some prominent sites like Jeevansathi and Matrimony.com. After citing violation of payment regulations, Google started taking action against them. In a blog post, Google highlighted that 10 companies established in India had not paid the required fees despite using the platform and that they had been given 3 years to rectify the issues.

Why is Google removing Indian apps from Play Store?

The controversy revolves around Indian startups’ opposition to Google’s 11-26 percent service fee for in-app payments. Google, which has been granted legal immunity, took action against those companies following court rulings in January and February. The court denied granting relief to startups in payment matters. Notably, Google was allowed to charge or remove apps after these two Supreme Court rulings. However, Google did not recognize the companies.

According to a Reuters report, the conflict stems from attempts by Indian startups to challenge Google’s fee structure as ordered by the country’s competition authorities. The authorities had previously urged Google to dismantle the 15-30 percent billing system for in-app payments.

Matrimony.com founder Murugavel said it was a dark day for the Indian internet. “Our apps are being removed one by one. It literally means all major matrimonial services are being removed,” he added.

Which Indian apps has Google removed from Play Store?

Apart from Bharat Matrimony, the removed apps include Info Edge’s 99acres and Naukri.com along with Shaadi.com, Truly Madly, QuackQuack, Stage, Altt by Balaji Telefilms and Kuku FM. Google defended its lawsuit by stating that it had given the companies more than three years to prepare and took the necessary steps after the Supreme Court’s order.

In response, Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani claimed that the company had paid all pending Google invoices on time and followed its policies. Bikhchandani emphasized the need for India to have its own App Store/Play Store integrated with digital public infrastructure like UPI and ONDC.