‘Govt will take up billing issue with Google for long-term solution’

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has assured startups that MeitY will take up the billing policy issue with Google to derive a long-term solution. Chandrasekhar, who is the minster the minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship, electronics, and information technology, gave the assurance during a virtual meeting with companies affected by Google's move to delist some apps from Play Store, during a virtual meet on March 4,

The minister wrote in a post on X, “Today, startups presented their concerns regarding a few policies of Google. Assured them that MeitY will take it up with Google for a sustainable and long-term solution.” The meeting, held at Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) saw presence of leaders from the companies that were affected by the recent de-listing of apps. This included Shaadi.com’s Anupam Mittal, Matrimony.com’s Murugavel Janikaran, Infoedge’s Hitesh Oberoi, amongst others. 

Chandrasekhar further shared in his post that under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, the government will continue to work towards a level playing field for big and small firms alike while creating an ecosystem that will catalyze growth for startups. “There has been a deep and decisive transformation in India’s #startup ecosystem over the past 10 years. From fewer startups in 2014, we now have more than 1 lakh startups and 113 unicorns, with the potential to add 10 lakh startups and 10,000 unicorns in the coming decade,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Google too shared a statement on the row, saying that it has temporarily reinstated the apps of the developers with appeals pending in the Supreme Court.

“In the spirit of cooperation, we are temporarily reinstating the apps of the developers with appeals pending in the Supreme Court. Google maintains its right to implement and enforce its business model, as established in various courts. We will invoice our full applicable services fees in the interim and are extending payment timelines for these companies. We look forward to a collaborative effort to find solutions that respect the needs of all parties,” read a statement from the tech giant.

Anupam Mittal expressed his gratitude to the minister and wrote, “Thank you for a patient ear. Look forward to a continued dialogue for both an immediate fix & a longer-term sustainable solution.” 

IT and Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had earlier commented on the fiasco that delisting cannot be permitted. The minister had then announced about this meeting, saying, "I have already called Google...I have already called the app developers who have been delisted, we will be meeting them. This cannot be permitted.”

Google had announced on Friday that it is taking down a few apps from the store for non-adherence to the platform’s billing policies. After the government's intervention, the tech giant had reinstated all the delisted apps. Apps like Shaadi.com, Matrimony.com, Naukri.com, TrulyMadly, Kuku FM were some of the affected ones whose founders came forward on social media to call the tech giants out.