Google Pauses Its Mandatory Billing System In India Following CCI's Order
Directions from the Competition Commission of India prompt Google to halt enforcement of its payments policy in India.
Google has paused the enforcement of its payments policy in India after India's anti-trust regulator found its Play Store policies discriminatory and anti-competitive.
"We are pausing enforcement of the requirement for developers to use Google Play's billing system for the purchase of digital goods and services for transactions by users in India," the tech major said, in an update to its payments policy.
The Competition Commission of India, in its order last week, had passed cease-and-desist directions against Google.
One of the directions was to allow app developers to use third-party billing/payment processing services for app purchases and in-app shopping. And to not discriminate against other apps facilitating payment through UPI in India vis-à-vis its own UPI app.
Google intends to "review its legal options", it said.
To be clear, the CCI had given the company three months to implement the necessary changes in its practices.
In 2020, as part of its payments policy, the tech major had said that all developers selling digital goods and services in their apps are required to use Google Play’s billing system. Apps using an alternative in-app billing system will be removed. Developers in India were given an extension until Oct. 31, 2022, to comply with this policy.
The pause in enforcing this deadline means that until the higher courts rule on the CCI's order, apps on Google Play Store in India can allow their users to pay via other UPI options like BHIM, PhonePe, Paytm, etc.