Top startups in India have urged the country’s competition watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), to investigate Google for allegedly sidestepping an antitrust directive by imposing a high service fee for in-app payments, according to a filing from the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF). Google’s move to charge a service fee on third-party payment processor transactions has “detrimental consequences for users and app developers”, ADIF said in the 15-page complaint from March. Google, which declined to comment, has previously said the service fee funds investments in Google Play and Android.
Uganda Adopts New Regulations to Promote Efficient Spectrum Utilization and Facilitate 5G Deployment
World Bank approves $390 million financing for Kenya’s Digital Economy Acceleration Project
Last October, the CCI fined Google $113m and ordered it to permit third-party billing and cease obliging developers to use its in-app payment system, which charges a commission of between 15% and 30%. In response, Google launched User Choice Billing for allowing alternative payments alongside its own, but ADIF alleges that the new system imposes a “service fee”. ADIF, which represents Indian startups including Paytm and ShareChat, claims Google is using the service fee system to bypass the antitrust directive.
