Google vs startups in Madras HC: Tech giant not to delist apps from Playstore till August 18

Google Vs Start ups

Google will not remove till August 18 from its Playstore the mobile applications of the startups that have challenged its in-app billing policy, the tech giant told the Madras High Court on August 11.

The undertaking was given by the search giant as the court agreed to hear the startups’ petitions challenging a single-judge bench order that dismissed their pleas against Google’s Playstore policies.

A two-judge bench of the high court, which issued a notice to Google, will hear the startups’ pleas for interim orders on August 18.

Senior advocate Sajan Poovayya, who appeared for Google, told the court that he would file a reply on why interim order should not be granted to startups.

Senior advocate and former finance minister P Chidambaram represented the startups.

The court was hearing appeals against the Madras High Court dismissing 14 of the 16 pleas from startups and tech companies, including Bharat Matrimony, Shaadi.com and Unacademy, against Google's app billing policy.

The court said the issue fell under the jurisdiction of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The two remaining pleas, from streaming service company Disney+ Hotstar and exam preparation app Testbook, are also likely to be dismissed.

According to the court, since the startups have alleged abuse of dominant position by Google, the CCI should be the one deciding the matter.

The CCI was empowered to direct any enterprise guilty of abuse of dominant position to discontinue such practices, hence any order passed by the anti-trust watchdog would be applicable to all the businesses, the court said.

But in the present proceedings, such an order would be applicable only to the company that has challenged Google's policy.

The court passed the order after Google filed an application under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC), 1908 contending that the suits filed by the startups were not maintainable.

Google said the suits should be filed in California in the US, as the company was headquartered there. A civil court cannot adjudicate the issue as it involved allegations of anti-trust violations, it argued.

The petitioners include KukuFM, TrulyMadly, QuackQuack, Pratilipi, Crafto, Tamil publisher Ananda Vikatan, streaming services like Altt, Stage and Aha and industry body Indian Digital Media Industry Foundation that represents prominent streaming services such as Zee5, SonyLIV and SunNXT.

The court had earlier provided an interim injunction to these companies, asking them to pay a lower 4 percent fee to Google for using its in- app payments system. It also directed the tech giant not to delist any of them from the Play Store.

The injunction was in response to the petitioners moving the high court challenging Google's notice to either adopt its new app billing policy or face delisting from the app marketplace. Google said in May 2023 that it would start enforcing Play billing policy in India.