Indian Government Might Open Its Own App Store As Local Startups Criticized Google Play Store

According to a senior government official, India will expand current app stores or open a new one if there are enough demands from local companies for an alternative to Google’s Play Store or Apple’s App Store.

India has over 500 million smartphone users, most of whom use Play Store for Android. However, local start-ups are far from pleased with the way the app store works, saying that it dampened their growth.

Last month, Paytm, a prominent Indian startup, got into trouble with Google for violating its gambling policies. Paytm was then removed for a few hours from Play Store.

Last week, Google said it would tighten the 30% commission policy on in-app purchases.

The official didn’t wish to be named and he said before the government made such an app store a reality, it had to know there would be enough takers for it.

India already has its own app store with over 1200 apps, most of them are government-backed. So if local companies show their support for such a store, the government might favor the idea of expanding the existing app store than starting a new one from scratch.

Many Indian startups are calling for a store that doesn’t charge so much for a service fee.

According to Vishal Gondal, nCore Games’ co-founder, Indian companies need a local app store. He cited reasons for the pressure companies are facing with a high 30% cut paired with customer acquisition cost.

While Paytm disagreed with Google’s accusation, the company still had to remove some of its promotions to get it app back to Play Store.

>>> Paytm Pulled From Play Store, Founder Thinks Google Is Trying To Promote Google Pay