The startup owners are planning to form an indigenous app developers association within a month to get protected against the global technology giants such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Apple, said three startup founders. This is the result of the discontent among Indian startups against Google.It will be a non-profit association independent of existing bodies, such as the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), said Murugavel Janakiraman, founder of Matrimony.com. The new association will be used only to lobby the cause of app developers in India.
IAMAI, that represents India’s digital and mobile ecosystem, and has Google India as a member, also held a closed-door meeting on Saturday, to hear the concerns of Indian startups against the monopolistic growth of Google.There were no comments about the closed door meeting and the Google approach from IAMAI. to Google India is maintaining its silence on the matter. “We as a group of Indian startup developers will come together to make an independent congregation. They (Google) cannot be a single gatekeeper to the whole Indian internet ecosystem, especially when they claim to be a non-Indian entity. This is similar to the ‘Salt Movement," said Paytm founder and chief executive officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma. On Thursday, Paytm announced the launch of a mini-app store to help small businesses get discovered. Paytm also launched INR 10 crore developer funds, which will work as an incubator to support Indian app-creators.
Google had recently reiterated its Play Billing policy that mandates Indian developers using Play to pay 30% commission for the usage. It created an outrage by homegrown startup founders, which forced Google to then soften its stance and provide an extension for the rule to come into effect to 31 March 2022. The founders urge the Centre to regulate Google and other big tech firms, while doing away with commissions and arbitrary policies of the Play Store. “If they are charging 30% commission for just providing Play Store, they should at least offer customer care service to Indian apps," said Sharma.
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