PhonePe To Take On Google With ‘Made In India’ Indus Appstore

Fintech giant PhonePe has launched Indus Appstore Developer Platform for Android app developers to take on giants Apple and Google.

The mobile app marketplace, Indus Appstore, has invited developers to register and upload their apps using its self-serve developer platform. The apps will be listed on the soon to be launched ‘Made-in-India’ Indus Appstore, offering a localised experience in 12 languages, PhonePe said.

App listings will be free during the first year on the Indus Appstore Developer Platform. Post that, a ‘small annual fee’ will be charged, the Walmart-owned company said.

At a time when Indian startups are at war with Google over its billing policy, PhonePe said Indus Appstore will not impose any platform fees or commissions for in-app payments. Developers will have the freedom to integrate their preferred payment gateway within their apps without any restrictions.

It must be noted that the Alliance for Digital India Foundation, which includes prominent members such as Paytm and Matrimony.com, have been actively opposing Google’s service fee.

PhonePe is positioning its app store platform as an alternative in the Indian Android market.

“India is poised to have over 1 Bn smartphone users by 2026 offering us a massive opportunity to build a new-age, localised Android app store. Despite being such a large consumer market, app developers have always been forced to work with only one app store – Google Playstore – for distributing their apps,” Akash Dongre, CPO & cofounder of Indus Appstore, said.

“Indus Appstore hopes to provide app developers a credible alternative to the Google Playstore – one that is more localised and offers better app discovery and consumer engagement,” Dongre added.

To support startups and newly launched apps, the Indus Appstore will introduce a dedicated section named “Launch Pad.” It aims to enhance the visibility and optimise search results for these new applications.

Besides, the platform will provide various developer tools and features tailored to address the common challenges encountered by Android developers such as a 24/7 customer support team located in India to assist developers.

It must be noted that PhonePe acquired Indus OS’ parent OSLabs, a mobile platform that enables content and app discovery for users and app developers, last year after a long legal battle.

In May 2021, PhonePe was said to be finalising a $60 Mn deal to acquire 92% of Indus OS. Trouble followed the deal when existing investor Affle objected to the deal. After Affle’s plea was rejected by a Singapore court, all the participants decided on an out-of-court settlement.

PhonePe’s move comes at a time when Google and Apple are currently under regulatory scrutiny in India and various other markets regarding the operations of their respective app marketplaces, Google Play and the App Store.

In October last year, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) issued directives to Google to modify its dealings with smartphone manufacturers and app developers. These directives included imposing penalties through two separate orders.