The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) has welcomed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s (NCLAT) decision to not grant a stay on the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) order dated October 25, 2022, on Google Play Billing System (charging excessive commission) case. ADIF requested that NCLAT not allow the stay, as these Google practices hamper the Indian start-up ecosystem. Google has been ordered to pre-deposit 10 per cent of the total penalty amount of Rs 936 crore.
ADIF represented the interests of Indian start-ups in the case against Google for charging excessive fees for in-app payments and subscriptions by mandating payment through the Google Play Billing System. As a result of this, the CCI ruled in a final judgment that Google had abused its dominant market position by imposing its billing system on app developers for all transactions on the Google Play Store, including in-app payments.
The CCI directed Google to allow app developers to use any third-party billing or payment processing services, either for in-app purchases or for purchasing apps; not impose any anti-steering provisions on app developers; Not impose any conditions (including price-related conditions) on app developers that are unfair, unreasonable, discriminatory or disproportionate to the services provided to the app developers, including non-discrimination against other apps that facilitate payment through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in India vis-à-vis its own UPI app, in any manner.
“We believe in fostering a level-playing field for Indian start-ups, and we are proud to have been a part of the effort that led to the recent decision by the CCI in the Google Play billing case. Such policies have a destructive effect on the margins and business models of a number of fledgling Indian start-ups. We believe that removing restrictive policies increases choice in the hands of app developers and fosters innovation," said ADIF Spokesperson.
The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) is a think tank for digital start-ups formed to fully capitalise on the sector’s promise with the objective of its long-term prosperity in mind. ADIF aims to transform the start-up ecosystem which upholds the essence of the Indian start-up playbook or the Indus Valley Playbook and ensures that it emerges as a strong alternative to the dominant Silicon Valley Playbook.