IAMAI – an industry association that represents some of the largest Indian startups as well as international firms – condemned the removal of apps and had urged Google to reinstate delisted apps.In its blogpost, Google had said 10 Indian companies had chosen for an extended period of time not to pay for the “immense value they receive on Google Play”.”For years, no court or regulator has denied Google Play’s right to charge,” it said, adding that the Supreme Court on February 9 also “refused to interfere” with its right to do so.Google asserted that allowing a small group of developers to get differential treatment from the vast majority of developers who are paying their fair share creates an uneven playing field putting all other apps and games at a competitive disadvantage.”After giving these developers more than three years to prepare, including three weeks after the Supreme Court’s order, we are taking necessary steps to ensure our policies are applied consistently across the ecosystem, as we do for any form of policy violation globally,” Google said.In the blogpost, Google had said that enforcement of the policy, when necessary, can include removal of non-compliant apps from Google Play.Google, however, added that existing users will be able to continue to access the apps without interruption and that it continues “to offer our support to help developers get into compliance”.Developers, it said, are welcome to resubmit their apps to be listed on Play by selecting one of the three billing options as part of its payment policy.”Today, we have over 2,00,000 Indian developers using Google Play who adhere to our policies, helping us ensure we have a safe platform; however, for an extended period of time, 10 companies, including many well-established ones, have chosen to not pay for the immense value they receive on Google Play by securing interim protections from the court,” Google had said.
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