CCI must act against anti-competitive behaviour: Info Edge's Sanjeev Bikhchandani amid Google app billing row

Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder and Vice Chairman, Info Edge India Ltd.

India’s antitrust regulator the Competition Commission of India (CCI) must take action against Google’s anti-competitive behaviour, Info Edge co-founder Sanjeev Bikchandani has told Moneycontrol.

On March 1, Google delisted five of Info Edge’s apps —  the flagship Naukri app, Naukri Recruiter, Naukrigulf Job Search App, 99acres, and Shiksha  — from the Play Store. The company's matrimony business Jeevansathi is still available on the app marketplace.

Info Edge, one of India's oldest internet companies, said in an exchange filing that this action came as a surprise for the firm since Google didn’t give them “due and sufficient notice”.

The company said it is reviewing and evaluating the course of action and working with Google to ensure that the firm's mobile applications are reinstated on the Google Play Store in a timely manner.

Sources told Moneycontrol that Info Edge didn't receive a notice or communication from Google about any of its apps being non-compliant, besides its matrimony business Jeevansathi. The company received a communication of Naukri and 99acres being non-compliant a few hours before the apps were delisted, they said.

The takedown

This action is part of Google's drive to purge apps from Indian digital companies, which, according to the tech giant, have not complied with its app billing policy for an extended period of time.

As part of these efforts, Google has delisted over a dozen apps by prominent Indian digital companies including Matrimony, and Shaadi.com from Play Store. The move came hours after the Android maker said it will take action against 10 developers who had chosen not to comply with its payment policy despite adhering to the payment policies of other app stores.

In February, the Supreme Court refused to pass an interim order protecting internet firms such as Matrimony.com, Shaadi.com from being delisted from Google's Play Store on February 9. This development paved the way for Google to take the delisting action. The apex court is expected to hear pleas from startups challenging Google's app billing policy on March 19.

Bikhchandani said that app developers and users in India need more choices in terms of app stores since that will ensure that there is no monopoly power being misused.

He said the government should build an app store that is part of Digital Public Infrastructure, similar to UPI (Unified Payments Interface) and ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce).

"Essentially, you're seeing a very high amount of rent being collected by somebody who has monopoly power. This will obviously disincentivise the companies that are trying to build apps" Bikhchandani said.

In February, PhonePe launched Indus Appstore, a homegrown Android app store designed as a challenger to Google Play Store, to consumers in India. A key differentiator for the app marketplace is that it will charge a zero percent fee on in-app purchases compared to the 15-30 percent fee levied by Google Play Store.

Info Edge has made all its apps available through Indus Appstore, Moneycontrol observed. "The question is whether enough users will use it. If users don't use it, you don't get any reach. So reach is important" he said.

At 10 am, the Info Edges stock was trading at Rs 5,168 on the National Stock Exchange, down 1.89 percent from the previous close.

‘Dark Day for Indian Internet’

Murugavel Janakiraman, the founder of matrimonial site Matrimony, also termed Google's step as "a dark day for Indian Internet" and said the government should take note of this development and take necessary action to ensure that "internet startups are free from the monopoly practice" of the tech giant.

He told Moneycontrol that Google has taken down about 7-8 of the matrimony firm's apps such as Bharat Matrimony, Community Matrimony, Christian Matrimony, Muslim Matrimony, Doctors Matrimony, and Jodii until now.

"20 years ago, we never had to worry about anything, we ran a website to run a business. Today, we are dependent on Google for our business. At a time when the government is taking a lot of steps to improve the startup ecosystem, Google's actions are putting us back," he said.

Android powers 96-97 percent of smartphones in India, as per industry estimates.

Read: IAMAI urges Google to reinstate delisted Indian apps, seeks consultation

Echoing a similar sentiment, Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal said that Google's "false narratives and audacity show they have little regard for India".

Lal Chand Bisu, co-founder and chief executive of Kuku FM, said Google is the "most evil company for businesses" and the Indian startup system is "completely controlled by them".

"We are now faced with no option but to accept their terms. This will completely destroy our business and make Kuku FM unaffordable for the majority of the country" he said in a post on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter.

Vinay Singhal, the co-founder of Indian language entertainment content platform Stage, also urged the government to intervene and "save 100s of companies which are impacted and will be killed over night if this is not taken care of"

Read: Indian startup founders mull levying 'Google Tax' amid app billing policy row

Google's stand

In the blogpost, Google said that granting a select group of developers preferential treatment over others who are already in compliance would result in an "uneven playing field" across the ecosystem, placing all other apps at a "competitive disadvantage".

"We've always respected local laws. For years, no court or regulator has denied Google Play's right to charge for the value and services we provide...While some of the developers that were refused interim protection have started fairly participating in our business model and ecosystem, others choose to find ways to not do so" the company said in the blogpost.

Read: Google takes action against 10 Indian app developers over Play Store billing policy violation

Google claims that over 200,000 Indian developers using Google Play adhere to its policies.

The company said it is taking this action after giving these developers more than three years to prepare, including three weeks after the Supreme Court’s order.

For apps that are delisted, Google said developers can resubmit their apps by integrating any of the three billing options — Google Play's own billing system, an alternate billing system alongside Google Play's, or operating on a consumption-only basis (without any service fee) where users have paid for the content or service outside the app. Alternatively, developers can distribute their apps through alternative Android app stores or directly through their websites.

Google said Android and Play ecosystem collectively supported over 2.5 million jobs in India in 2022.

"Google Play invests significantly in supporting Indian developers, big and small, across every stage of an app’s journey, providing critical tools and services that help them unlock their innovation, acquire and engage users, and expand to users worldwide," the tech giant said.

"To sustain our efforts, Google Play charges a service fee when developers sell in-app digital goods" it said.

Google said only 3 percent of 200,000 developers in India sell digital goods or services. These developers need to pay a service fee, with the vast majority paying 15 percent or less, which the tech giant claims is the lowest of any major global app store.

Less than 60 developers on Google Play are subject to fees above 15 percent, the company said.