Bengaluru : Digital payments company Paytm has launched a mini app store to support Indian developers, in a direct challenge to Google’s dominance in the space.
The store launch follows the temporary removal of the paid app from Google’s Play Store on September 18 for violating developer guidelines on real money gaming.
While the removal of the app may be a trigger, the Paytm move is perhaps a direct consequence of Google requiring developers listed on its Play Store to use its billing service. Google charges a 30% commission on any transaction made for a digital product or service through its in-app billing system.
Paytm said that the applet store will help developers bring their products to the masses and that it offers a list and distribution of these applets within its application. Rival PhonePe launched its in-app platform in June 2018 and rebranded it as PhonePe Switch in October 2019.
More than 300 apps, including Decathlon, Ola, Rapido, Netmeds, 1MG, Domino’s Pizza, FreshMenu, NoBroker, have joined the Paytm app store, the company said.
Last week, startup founders like Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Razorpay’s Harshil Mathur, along with 50 other founders, discussed the possibility of building an Indian app store to challenge Google.
In another move, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (Iamai) industry body, which has many startups as members, sought a collective strategy to tackle the problem. In a Sept. 29 note, Iamai said he seeks a meeting with his founding members to understand their concerns and resolve them.
“Just because Google owns the door and the gateway to the digital ecosystem of this country, they should not act arbitrarily and enforce its rules and regulations that are contrary to the laws of our country,” said Vishwas Patel, founder of CCAvenue and president of the Payments Council. from India and a member of Iamai. “Google’s position in court is that it does not need authorization from the RBI as it is not a payment system operator and in this case it requires Indian applications to use only Google’s proprietary billing and payment systems. Google should not exercise its dominant position, rather it allows a level playing field for all ”, he added.
“India needs a local app store for the long term; otherwise, the 30% tax will consume most businesses; Is anyone trying to build one? ”Mathur de Razorpay said on Twitter last week.
Patel, founder of the Payments Council of India, said in the September 29 note that Google “cannot” force “Indian developers to use Google billing and charge a commission for it.
The Indian developers plan to pressure the government and propose an alternative to Google. In fact, business channel ETNow reported last week that the government plans to increase its Mobile Seva app store, which has primarily targeted MSMEs, to act as an alternative to Google and Apple platforms.
The government is reportedly planning to make the Mobile Seva app store mandatory on all smartphones. Paytm recently appeared on the store, which mostly has government apps.
In the absence of any legal means, the government will have a lot of work to do to make a viable alternative to Google and Apple, experts said.
“Other app stores have not been able to catch up with Google Play because they lack network effects. The Google Play Store is required to make use of Google’s mobile services, which include other applications such as Google Maps, “Manjunath Bhat, senior managing analyst at Gartner, told Mint last week.
On September 29, Google said: “Play distributed applications must use Google Play’s revenue sharing and billing system as a payment method if they require or accept payments to access features or services, including any application functionality, digital content or goods. This applies to apps only and was supposedly done to prevent loss of revenue to Google from Google Play as of January 2021. “
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