Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma on Thursday stepped up his fight against Google as he sought government intervention to help create a level playing field so as to “not allow somebody [to hold] to ransom” Indian app developers and to ensure all stakeholders complied with Indian laws.
He also alleged that Google was acting like a “toll collector instead of trying to enable the ecosystem”.
Mr. Sharma has rallied about 100 homegrown firms in opposing Google Play Store’s new norms mandating the use of its billing system after March 2022, which would entail app developers needing to pay 30% transaction fee for all digital goods sold via their apps to Play Store. The group also plans to form a united front against global firms such as Google, Apple and Facebook, he said.
Paytm aims to onboard one million apps on its new Android ‘mini app store’ in the next year or so, coinciding with the deadline for new Google Play rules, Mr. Sharma said, announcing a ₹10 crore “equity investment” scheme for mini app developers in the country.
“The biggest role that the government can play is [to] create a level playing field for us, and not let somebody ransom us... that number is so costly that very less number of digital firms can expect to be profitable…We all, as Indian entrepreneurs, businesses, homegrown technology companies, need support from the government,” he told The Hindu , adding that their expectation was that government should ensure that Google and other big technology companies followed Indian laws, and to not let them build and deploy arbitrary rules.
“We are saying repeatedly that we cannot have these big tech companies coming to court and saying your laws [Indian laws] don't apply to us... So, effectively as an Indian business or Indian app developer, I don't have a recourse,” Mr. Sharma said.
A group of Indian tech businesses had also reached out to MeitY last Saturday to detail their concerns on the issue and seek government intervention.
Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder-CEO of Matrimony.com Ltd, who participated in the developers’ conference held by Paytm on Thursday, said that with almost all digital services needing to pay “this commission or tax”, Indian digital goods will become even more expensive as start-ups will have to factor the 30% charge.
“This is almost like charging customers 30% of their wedding expenses every time a couple meets and weds through us,” Mr. Janakiraman said.
Vishal Gondal, founder and CEO of GOQii, added that these issues were not new, but that start-ups have now banded together to take on the big tech firms, while stressing that the core issue was that these firms got away saying that they were not regulated by laws and rules in India.
