New Delhi: Google on Friday started removing the apps of 10 companies in India.
Among them are popular matrimony apps like Bharat Matrimony and Jeevansathi.
The action stems from a dispute over service fee payments, leading to a showdown with startup firms.
Some Indian have been looking to stop Google from imposing a fee of 11% to 26% on in-app payments, after the country’s antitrust authorities ordered it to dismantle an earlier system of charging 15% to 30%, reported Reuters.
However, two court decisions in January and February – including one by the Supreme Court – not to didn’t offer any relief to startups and encouraged Google to charge the fee or remove the apps.
Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc has sent notices to several Indian startups alleging Play Store violations. These companies include Matrimony.com, which runs BharatMatrimony app, and Info Edge, which runs Jeevansathi.
Matrimony.com founder Murugavel Janakiraman said that its dating apps Bharat Matrimony, Christian Matrimony, Muslim Matrimony and Jodii were deleted on Friday.
“Our apps are getting deleted one by one. It’s a dark day of Indian Internet,” Janakiram said.
Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani said the company had cleared all pending Google invoices in a timely manner and was compliant with its policies.
Google said in a blog post that 10 Indian companies had chosen not to pay for the “immense value they receive on Google Play” for an extended period of time.
Shares of Matrimony.com and Info Edge fell 2.7% and 1.5%, respectively, following Google’s action,
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