Google India mulls removal of some apps for not paying service fee

Alphabet Inc's Google will enforce action against the apps of 10 companies for not paying a service fee for the usage of its app store platform in India, including potentially de-listing their apps, the tech giant said on Friday. Google did not name the companies in question.

Alphabet Inc's Google will enforce action against the apps of 10 companies for not paying a service fee for the usage of its app store platform in India, including potentially de-listing their apps, the tech giant said on Friday.

Google did not name the companies in question. Companies including Walt Disney and Tinder-owner Match have previously sued Google over its policy of imposing a "service fee" of 11%-26% on in-app payments in India.

Google introduced the service fee after an antitrust directive ruled against an earlier 15%-30% fee and forced it to allow third-party payments. Companies have said Google's new service fee system is just a cloaked version of the earlier system.

"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 court," Google said in a blog post.