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Google had previously set an extended deadline of Oct. 31 for
developers in India to integrate apps with its Google Play
billing system, which collects a commission that ranges from
15%-30% for each sale.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI), however, ordered
Google last week not to restrict app developers from using
third-party billing or payment processing services in India,
while fining it $113 million.
In a website update to developers on Tuesday, Google said the
requirement to use its billing system still applied for users
outside the country, adding it was reviewing legal options in
India.
Last week, Reuters reported that Google was planning a legal
challenge to block a separate CCI ruling that demanded a change
in its approach to the Android operating system.
Globally, Google and Apple have faced criticism that the fees
charged at their mobile app stores are needlessly high and cost
developers collectively billions of dollars a year. Both have
lowered fees in many circumstances and have said they are needed
to fund a safe and secure mobile ecosystem.
"Today's decision helps protect our revenues. We hope that
Google implements this permanently as it's not good for Indian
digital startups - it amounts to digital tax for us," said
Murugavel Janakiraman, the CEO of BharatMatrimony Group, which
run various apps that help people find life partners.
Nearly 97% of India's 600 million smartphones run on Google's
Android mobile operating system, and startups have banded
together in the past to say the payment policy hurt their
businesses.
Google on its part has begun to allow alternative payment
systems in countries including India on a pilot basis, charging
lower commissions.
(Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil in New Delhi and
Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and
Mark Potter)
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