Google deleted multiple Indian apps from its Play Store on Friday, including Matrimony.com’s popular Bharat Matrimony, and job search tool Naukri, citing violations of its in-app payment criteria.
Vaishnav said he has spoken with Google and will speak with entrepreneurs that require protection in India.
“This cannot be permitted. This kind of de-listing cannot be permitted.”
Ashwini Vaishnav, IT Minister, India
Google declined to comment.
Many startups have criticized the decision, citing years of protests and legal challenges to many of the US giant’s policies, including its in-app fee. According to Google, the payments support the development and promotion of the Android and Play Store ecosystems.
The disagreement revolves around efforts by some Indian entrepreneurs to prevent Google from imposing an 11%-26% tax on in-app payments, after the country’s antitrust authorities instructed it not to implement a previous scheme of charging 15%-30%.
However, Google effectively won approval to collect the fee or remove apps following two court decisions in January and February, one of which was issued by the Supreme Court.
Google said on Friday that some Indian companies had chosen not to pay for the “immense value they receive on Google Play”.
Among the hardest hit by the removals is Matrimony.com, which has had over 150 of its apps removed from the Play Store.
“All our apps have been removed and we are out of Play Store and (that) means out of business. If this continuous for a long term then we will have significant drop in revenue.”
Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder, Matrimony.com
Info Edge, another affected company, had its job search app Naukri and a real estate search service removed. Many of the company’s apps had been restored, according to its founder, who spoke with X on Saturday without going into detail.
Google momentarily pulled the famous Indian payments app Paytm from its Play Store in 2020, alleging policy violations. The company’s creator and the larger startup industry banded together to oppose Google, building their own app marketplaces and bringing legal cases.
