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      Indian Startups Demand Probe on Google for Bypassing Antitrust Directive and Charging High Service Fee | Details Inside

      Top startups in India have call on the country’s competition watchdog to launch an inquiry into Alphabet’s Google for allegedly bypassing an antitrust directive by charging a high service fee for in-app payments, a filing shows.

      The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) filing marks the new tussle between Google and Indian startups, which have repeatedly criticize the Google for imposing unfair business restrictions that hurt smaller players.

      Alliance of Digital India Foundation Said in 15-page confidential March complaint :

      “Google’s policy change of charging service fee even on transactions processed by third-party payment processors … has detrimental consequences for users and app developers,”.

      Google, which decline to comment, has previously said the service fee supports investments in the Google Play app store and the Android mobile operating system, ensuring it distributes it for free and covers developer tools and analytic services.

      The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in October impose a $113 million (approx. Rs. 9,25,357,000) fine on Google and said it must allow the use of third-party billing and stop forcing developers to use its in-app payment system that charges a commission of 15%-30%.

      Google later decide to start offering User Choice Billing (UCB) for allowing alternative payments alongside Google’s when purchasing in-app digital content, but the ADIF said in its filing that this new system imposes a “service fee“.

      Alliance of Digital India Foundation 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,”.

      Google, which counts India as a key growth market, faces other regulatory challenges, including a recent setback that forced it to change how it markets its Android system.

      ALSO READ  Karnataka High Court Approached by Google Seeking More Time to Respond to CCI

      In its October order, the CCI said Google abuse its market position and its mandatory imposition of the proprietary payment system hurts the ability of payment processors and app developers to undertake technical development and innovate.

      Google has challenge this in an Indian tribunal.

      ADIF, which represents Indian startups including digital payments firm Paytm and social media app ShareChat, in its March complaint, alleged that Google was using the new service fee system to bypass the antitrust directive that order it not to impose any “unfair and disproportionate” conditions.

      Alliance of Digital India Foundation Said :

      “The policy of UCB is unfair and the same would lead to unjust enrichment to Google,”. 

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