These companies join the likes of Bharat Matrimony and Shaadi.com which have already approached the High Court challenging Google’s billing policies and seeking relief. On Monday, ET had reported that Unacademy, Kuku FM, TrulyMadly and QuackQuack had moved the Madras HC.
However, now three others have joined the fight. Aha OTT, Stage and Kutumb are the other players who have filed petitions in the HC against Google.
These companies have received emails from the search giant wherein it warned that it would delist their apps if they did not comply with their payments policy. Notices sent from Google have been reviewed by ET.
In the email to companies, Google states, “Your app uses a non-Google Play billing system to accept payment for access to in-app features or services including any app functionality, digital content or goods (collectively “in app purchases”). Your app may be removed from our distribution, limited on Google Play if you do not resolve this issue.”
In a statement to ET, a Google spokesperson said that it expects developers to “fairly participate in our business model, as they do with other app stores. We are closely working with developers to help them comply with our policies and if a developer chooses not to comply, they continue to have many other options to operate their business on Android.”
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The spokesperson added that their payments policy is in compliance with CCI’s directive on Google Play in letter and spirit.
