New Delhi (India), 7th April 2023: Top Indian startups have requested that Alphabet’s Google be investigated for allegedly violating an antitrust mandate by charging a hefty service fee for in-app payments, according to a file with the country’s competition watchdog CCI.
The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) complaint read, “Google’s policy change of a charging service fee even on transactions processed by third-party payment processors … has detrimental consequences for users and app developers.”
According to Google, which declined to comment Android mobile operating system and Google Play app store are both supported by the service fee, it also pays for developer tools and analytic analytics.
In October, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) fined Google $113 million and ordered it to permit third-party billing and cease requiring developers to use its in-app payment system, which levies a commission of 15%–30%.
The ADIF said, “The app developers will have to pay 1%-3% for alternate payment service providers and 11%-26% to Google, which makes the entire ecosystem unsustainable.”
