IAMAI instructs Google to hold off delisting apps amid Billing Policy dispute, 4 members receive notice

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Mint report. In a statement, IAMAI advised Google not to delist any apps from Google Play.

"The affected members of IAMAI are of the view that a substantive hearing of the case is pending before the Supreme Court of India, and Google should not take any coercive action during the pendency of the case," IAMAI said. In response, Google asserted that a small group of companies, including well-established ones, have chosen not to pay the Play Store service fee for in-app purchases, creating an unfair advantage over the majority of developers who comply with the policy.

Google claimed to have provided ample time, over three years, for developers to adapt to the policy, including an additional three weeks following a recent Supreme Court order. Amid a warcry over Google Play billing policy by some prominent Indian startups and the recent launch of Indus Appstore, the Made-in-India app market challenger, Google in a blogpost asserted that allowing a small group of developers to get differential treatment from the vast majority of developers who are paying their fair share creates an uneven playing field putting all other apps and games at a competitive disadvantage.

"After giving these developers more than three years to prepare, including three weeks after the Supreme Court's order, we are taking necessary steps to ensure our policies are applied consistently across the ecosystem, as we do for any form of policy violation globally," Google said in its blogpost. It went on to say that enforcement of the policy, when necessary, can include removal of non-compliant apps from Google Play.