Google said on Friday it will start removing apps from its Play Store in India if developers fail to comply with its payment policy, taking a definitive stand weeks after the top Indian court granted the Android-maker with relief.
Without naming the firms, Google said 10 companies in India, including “many well-established ones,” have not paid Google Play’s fee despite being provided with three years to prepare.
“After giving these developers more than three years to prepare, including three weeks after the Supreme Court’s order, we are taking necessary steps to ensure our policies are applied consistently across the ecosystem, as we do for any form of policy violation globally,” the company wrote in a blog post. “Enforcement of our policy, when necessary, can include removal of non-compliant apps from Google Play.”
Google’s remark follows the Madras High Court rejecting petitions from several tech companies in India against Google’s new user choice billing system. Companies that had filed the petitions included Bharat Matrimony, Shadi.com, Unacademy, Kuku FM, Alt Digital Media and Info Edge.
Google wrote in the blog post that the small group of developers who are not paying the fee while using the Play Store are creating “an uneven playing field across the ecosystem” and putting other apps and games at a “competitive disadvantage.”
This is a developing story. More to come.