Indian startup giants are considering a 'Made in India' alternative for app store — in a bid to tackle Google's 'monopoly'

• Indian developers and startups are building an alliance to consider launching their app store – going against the tech giant Google.
• Google’s recent rollout of new payment policies where developers would have to pay a 30% tax on all in-app purchases, did not bode well with Indian startups.
• Google has also sent violation notices to startups like Paytm, Swiggy, and Zomato for their in-app gamification concerning IPL.

Indian developers and startups are getting together for a revolt of sorts – by building an alliance against the tech giant Google. According to reports, the likes of Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma, MakeMyTrip’s Deep Kalra, and many other startup founders are forming an alliance to consider an Indian app store.

The development comes as many recent moves from Google have put Indian startups in a tough spot.

It began with Paytm being removed for a few hours from the Play Store. Google had said that Paytm violated rules regarding fantasy gaming promotions. Google had said that “offering cashbacks and vouchers alone do not constitute a violation of our Google Play gambling policies”. It also let out a warning in its statement that further violations will make for stricter actions. Sharma had then gone on record to say that Google was acting like the “judge, jury and executioner”.

It was followed by Google rolling out new payment policies where developers would have to pay a 30% tax on all in-app purchases and even included entertainment, education, dating, and fitness apps in the list. Although the tech giant had said this policy is only applicable to less than 3% of developers with apps on Google Play, the Indian developer community didn’t seem too happy about it. Many took to Twitter to say that it’s high time India needs its own app store.





Recently, even food tech unicorns Swiggy and Zomato fell on the wrong side of Google’s policies. Both the startups received notices for their cashback and offer related to the IPL for promoting in-app gamification.

Zomato confirmed the development to ET and said, “We are a small company and have already realigned our business strategy to comply with Google’s guidelines. We will be replacing Zomato Premier League with a more exciting program by this weekend.”

Swiggy also has hit pause on its IPL-led games on the app.


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