Google postpones 30% commission on Google Play purchases – but only for India
Last week, Google updated the billing policy for the branded app store, making it mandatory for developers to use its own IAP billing system and pay it a 30% commission on sales. Although this rule existed before, Google did not require it to be followed.
This move by the search giant raised a lot of buzzes, especially in India, where more than 50 percent of IT entrepreneurs expressed their displeasure with the innovation. Amid this, there were even rumors that the Indian government was working on an alternative app store for Android. Consequently, Google decided to postpone the implementation of the new rule until at least April 2022, but only for India. In the rest of the world, the changes will take effect from September 2021, as previously anticipated. Google reportedly gave Indian developers such a long period to adapt to the new rules, fearing that many of them would leave the platform. In addition, this time can be used by the parties for negotiations in order to find a compromise solution.
Google itself claims that the introduction of the mandatory 30 percent commission is driven by the quantity and quality of services the search giant provides to its customers. Google said it is organizing meetings with representatives of Indian startups to understand and minimize their concerns about the policy change.
