Google removes Indian apps over fee dispute.

News Desk
Islamabad: Google has taken action against some of India’s prominent applications on the Play Store due to a payment dispute, leading to a fresh conflict between the Indian government and the tech giant.
According to Reuters, Google removed ‘Bharat Matri Muni,’ a popular marriage application, and ‘Nukri,’ a job-finding app, citing non-compliance with payment service fee guidelines.
India’s Information Technology Minister, Ashwani Vaishnu, opposed Google’s decision, asserting that such removals wouldn’t be tolerated.
He stated that he has communicated with Google and intends to support startups in the country. Google has not responded to these developments yet.
The move drew criticism from numerous startup companies, which have long contested Google’s practices and even challenged them legally. Google claims the service fee is crucial for enhancing the Play Store and the Android ecosystem.
Several Indian startups had contested Google’s 11-26 percent service fee in court. However, in January and February of this year, two Indian courts, including the Supreme Court, upheld Google’s right to impose this fee.
In response to the controversy, Google issued a statement explaining that some Indian companies, despite earning substantial revenues, chose not to pay the fees owed to Google.
‘Matri Money.com,’ a wedding company, was significantly impacted, with over 150 of its applications removed from the Play Store.
The founder of ‘Matri Money.com,’ Mauro Gavel Janaki Raman, expressed concern over the situation, stating that prolonged absence from the Play Store could significantly reduce profits.
In addition to ‘Bharat Matri Muni’ and ‘Nukri,’ Google also removed other popular apps, including a job application and a real estate app, from the Play Store.