Google temporarily restores listing of apps

Google has agreed to restore the listing of all apps to their status as of March 1, 2024, said Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday.

The minister expressed hope that start-ups and Google will reach a long-term solution following a meeting with representatives from both parties.

“Google and start-up companies have met with us. We had very constructive discussions and finally, Google has agreed to restore all the apps to their Friday morning (March 1) status. Google has been supporting our technology development journey and we believe that in the coming months, both start-up companies and Google will come to a long-term resolution,” said the minister.

Meanwhile, Google in a statement said the company is temporarily reinstating the apps as the appeal is pending in the Supreme Court. It categorically mentioned that Google maintains its right to implement and enforce its business model.

“In the spirit of cooperation, we are temporarily reinstating the apps of the developers with appeals pending in the Supreme Court. Google maintains its right to implement and enforce its business model, as established in various courts. We will invoice our full applicable services fees in the interim and are extending payment timelines for these companies. We look forward to a collaborative effort to find solutions that respect the needs of all parties,” said spokesperson of Google.

On 1 March 2024, American technology giant Google delisted over 250 apps from 10 Indian app developers from its Play Store. In a blog post, the company mentioned that these developers were not complying with its payment policy. However, the developers are currently challenging this policy in the Madras High Court and Supreme Court.

Some of the delisted apps included Shaadi, Matrimony.com, Bharat Matrimony, ALTBalaji (formerly ALT), audio platform Kuku FM, dating service QuackQuack, and others. Google later began restoring these apps as some developers agreed to its payment terms.

Then, on Monday, executives from affected companies, including Matrimony.com (Bharat Matrimony), Info Edge (Naukri.com), People Interactive (Shaadi.com), QuackQuack, and Truly Madly, met separately with Ashwini Vaishnaw and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology.

The app developers, in a meeting with the government, urged them to intervene and restore their apps on the Play Store.