Google Unbothered By Govt’s Warning On Delisting Of Indian Apps: Bharat Matrimony CEO

Hit by Google’s delisting spree, there seems to be no relief in sight for Bharat Matrimony. The startup’s founder and CEO Murugavel Janakiraman confirmed to Inc42 that Bharat Matrimony, among more than 150 other apps listed on the Play Store, are yet to be reinstated. 

This comes even as apps of Shaadi.com and five of Info-Edge’s businesses (Naukri, Naukri Recruiter, Naukrigulf Job Search App, 99acres and Shiksha) were finally restored on the app marketplace on Saturday (March 3). 

Janakiraman’s comments hold prominence especially in the backdrop of IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, while taking a “strong view”, said that delisting of the apps of Indian startups would not be permitted.

In a separate post on LinkedIn, Janakiraman said that senior Google executives informed him that the impacted apps would only be listed after complying with the user choice billing system. 

“We were overjoyed after we heard that the government will not allow the deletion of our apps but our joy was short lived. When we reached out to Google at the senior level, we were told that they will only publish those apps that agree to Google billing payment policy,” said Janakriraman.

The Bharat Matrimony CEO added that the recently reinstated apps of Info Edge and Shaadi.com had to opt for “consumption model” to republish their apps on the Play Store. This, he said, would lead to friction in customer experience and revenue loss. 

For the uninitiated, under the consumption-only or reader model, products or services cannot be purchased from within the app. Essentially, a user will be able to log in to the app but will have to access content paid for somewhere else.

“Some of the apps, including Naukri, 99acres, Shaadi, etc, have changed to the consumption model and published their app… This will lead to friction in customer experience and revenue loss. However, some app developers choose this option as this is better than not having apps at all on the Play Store,” said Janakiraman. 

This comes two days after the tech giant took down several prominent apps from its Play Store over non-compliance with billing policies. The impacted startups include names such as Kuku FM, Truly Madly, STAGE, Altt (formerly Alt Balaji), Aha, FRND, Quack Quack, among others. 

The aftermath saw some Indian founders terming it a dark day for Indian internet while other stakeholders compared the tech major to Digital East India Company. Other stakeholders including IAMAI and ADIF also called for the reinstatement of the apps and rollback of the “exorbitant” commissions charged by the tech major under the new payments policy. 

Many founders internally also pitched the idea of levying a Google Tax on end customers to pass on the burden of commissions and build public opinion against the tech major’s new payment system.

The story traces its origins to 2022 when the Competition Commission of India (CCI) slapped an INR 936 Cr fine on Google for abusing its dominance with regards to its Play Store policies. The watchdog also directed the tech major to overhaul its policies and operations in India. 

The aftermath saw Google India introducing UCB, which offered a rebate of 4% and set the developer fees in the range of 11-26%. It also introduced third-party payments systems in UCB for apps listed on Play Store. 

However, founders lashed out at the new policy and lambasted the exorbitant commissions and extensive paperwork needed to embed external payment gateways. Indian founders also approached various courts, including the Supreme Court as well as Delhi and Madras High Courts, against the new policy and sought its revocation.

While the case is still pending before the Supreme Court as well as the CCI, Google undertook the move to delist apps and go ahead with the implementation of the user choice billing system.

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