Days after CCI ruling, Google pauses enforcement of in-app billing policy in India

For app developers based in India, Google is postponing the implementation of its Google Play billing policy. This deadline, October 31, 2022, passed without being met by Indian app developers yesterday. However, Google has recently decided to suspend this requirement in response to two antitrust decisions made by the Competition Commission of India against Google (CCI). "Following the CCI's recent ruling, we are pausing this enforcement of the requirement for developers to use Google Play's billing system for the purchase of digital goods and services for transactions by users in India," reads the statement on Google's support page. "While we review our legal options, we want to make sure we can continue to invest in Android and Play."

It's interesting to note that the support page also states that although the requirement for the Google Play Billing system has been suspended in India, it still "applies for in-app digital content purchases for users outside of India." This means that if Indian app developers still wish to provide digital content for purchase to users outside of the country, they must still adhere to the Play billing system.

The demand for a billing system has long been criticized as unfair by developers in India, who also claim that the commission structure discourages innovation in a country with high price sensitivity. Google has already received two fines from the regulatory agency. The first fine, at Rs. 936.44 crores, was imposed for violating the Play Store's policies; the second, for violating various categories linked to the Android ecosystem, was assessed at a cost of Rs. 1,338 crores.

Due to "specific circumstances with the payments landscape" in the nation, Google had postponed the deadline for the requirements of the payment system in India until 2021. This deadline was further extended to October 31, 2022, according to the page, "to give developers in India the required product support for recurring payments through convenient user payment systems, including UPI and wallets, and to also give them more time in light of the changes to India's recurring digital payments guidelines."

Google reduced its costs for all subscription-based services to 15% from 30% beginning January 1, 2022, in October 2021. In March 2022, Google also introduced a pilot programme that would enable participating non-gaming developers to provide users with a different third-party charging system in addition to Google Play in exchange for a discounted service cost of 6–11%. In September 2022, the pilot was expanded to include India as well as four other markets, including Australia, Indonesia, Japan, and the European Economic Area.

What exactly does Google Play Billing entail?

For developers that want to sell in-app content, Google Play's billing system is a necessity. Similar to how Apple's billing systems must be used by developers in order to allow customers to purchase things or subscribe to services, For the digital items sold through apps, Google and Apple both charge developers a commission (between 15 and 30 percent).