About two weeks ago, India’s leading financial services app Paytm was kicked out of the Play Store. While the episode didn’t last long as Google reset the app within hours, it triggered a widespread call to curb Google’s relentless dominance over the country’s app distribution market. That uproar has reached a point where a consortium of local tech startups is exploring the option of launching a Play Store alternative that frees it from Google’s control.
In most international markets, Apple and Google together form a duopoly when it comes to app distribution, but the situation is a bit uneven in India. Dice most Smartphones sold in the country run Android and, in turn, almost exclusively depend on the Play Store, Google becomes a monopoly. Calls to set up an alternative system have been raised sporadically for quite some time, but escalated after Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma got so loud in the wake of his app’s removal. Google’s recent decision to enforce in-app purchasing rules more strictly fueled the flames.
The founders of dozens of Indian startups, including MakeMyTrip, PolicyBazaar and Sharechat, have joined Sharma to explore creating a formal industry alliance, TechCrunch sources said. The group held a meeting on Tuesday, according to ET Tech, to discuss the possibility of a rival app store that would promote India’s app ecosystem. It even wants the government to monitor and guarantee “application neutrality” according to net neutrality guidelines, although no formal communication with authorities has been made so far.
In fact, India’s Indus OS already maintains an app store that hosts many local apps and even powers Samsung’s Galaxy Store. However, the industry body has not yet reached out to the Samsung-backed Indus operating system. Indus or not, a separate app store will raise serious concerns about data security, privacy, transparency, and even government spying, as many members of the group have also questioned. Meanwhile, Google has separately decided to make it easier to use alternative app stores, starting with Android 12, which should help if the consortium’s plans go through.
For reference, Google also leads the Indian UPI payments market with its dedicated Google Pay app, an arch-rival to Paytm. The company also recently teamed up with Reliance Jio of India to create Android smartphones that could cost as little as $ 50 for those switching feature phones.
