Earlier on Friday, Google took down one of the most popular fintech applications in India, Paytm, from its Play Store.
The app was put back by late in the evening, after Paytm ‘temporarily’ removed cashback component to meet the Play Store requirements.
Google confirmed the development and shared a blog post in response to numerous press queries that might have flooded their inbox.
The American search engine giant said that they do not allow online casinos or support unregulated gambling apps that facilitate sports betting.
“This includes, if an app leads consumers to an external website that allows them to participate in paid tournaments to win real money or cash prizes, it is a violation of our policies,” the blog post read.
Industry sources pointed out that Google without naming it directly might be indicating towards Paytm First Games, the challenger to fantasy gaming platforms like Dream11, HalaPlay, Mobile Premier League and so many others. However, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma spoke with CNBCTV18 and said that the problem was around cricket stickers given out by Paytm as a form of cashback.
While Google said that they had shared these concerns with Paytm developers multiple times, Sharma during the interview pointed out that there was just one letter issued in the afternoon of September 18 and the app taken down from the Store, the same day. There were three letters issued previously by Google highlighting concerns around Paytm First Games, which have been adhered to by the Alibaba and Softbank-backed company, Sharma asserted.
Taking the charge directly to the tech giant Sharma said that Google was behaving as the judge, jury and executioner here.
Interestingly this entire issue has opened a whole new set of questions for the Indian consumers, the banking fraternity and the legion of app developers in the country. Here are a few issues that stand out from the kerfuffle.
Google’s control over digital banking services in IndiaDoes India need its own app ecosystem to counter the influence of an American tech giant on the digital economy of the country? Maybe Atmanirbhar Bharat first needs an Indian platform for promoting its app economy.
Paytm allays fears, says linked accounts remain safeIndustry insiders pointed out that fantasy gaming is not outright illegal in the country. In fact Dream11 one of the pioneers of fantasy gaming here is the title sponsor for the Indian Premier League.
“In India, legislation puts a blanket ban on sports’ betting, however fantasy sports is not illegal in most Indian states….Google’s policies will have an over-arching implication on Apps in its Play Store,” said Sonam Chandwani, managing partner, KS Legal and Associates.
The entire debate has brought the focus back on the legality of fantasy gaming in the country. Popular apps like Dream11, Mobile Premier League and others are not available on the Google Play Store because of its stringent app policy. These apps need to be downloaded from their respective websites.
Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports had flagged the issueIn fact, Hindustan Times reported that the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports had flagged the issue with Google in order to ensure a level playing field among every fantasy gaming player. “An indirect implication would be the compliance of its policies by sports fantasy apps like Dream 11 and MPL that are not directly available on the Google Play Store platform but feature in advertisements and inducing similar effect on its user, eventually leading to a violation of its gambling policies,” said Chandwani.The conflict of interest angle: Perhaps an unintended but related debate is also around Google competing with Paytm in its core business through its UPI offering Google Pay. While Google strictly maintains separation of all its separate business verticals, but public conversations have revolved around the conflict of interest angle around Google running a platform as well as related businesses too. For instance Google Pay very recently was found out to be the most downloaded fintech app globally. An Entrackr report pointed out how Google Pay was at the top followed by PhonePe at the fourth position and Paytm at the sixth position. If Google while competing with Paytm can take down the app altogether, it goes on to show the dominant position that Google enjoys in the app ecosystem of the country.