India Plans Launch of Mobile App Store As Alternative to Apple, Google

India is planning to launch its own Android App Store (mobile app store) as an alternative to Apple and Google, Reuters reports. 

A senior government official has said that there are about 500 million smartphone users in India, most of whom use Google’s Android platform. Indian companies constantly complain about their policies. Such a situation is not good for a Startup.

Paytm, the highest-paying company to Google, had last month opposed the US tech giant’s decision to remove its app for a few hours. On the other hand, Alphabet-owned Google has said this week it is strictly implementing a policy that will take 30% commission of payments made by apps (mobile apps) on its Android store.

In response to some earlier reports, a senior government official said that no formal request has been received so far. But it is being considered to develop a mobile platform. India already has a mobile app store with more than 1,200 apps from the government, the official said.

In addition, Paytm can also consider the subject with the Indian government. Google said in a statement that nearly 3 percent of developers on its Play Store has sold digital goods in the past 12 months. About 97% of the payment systems follow the policy.

Many Indian startup founders are in need of a local app store. Vishal Gondal, the co-founder of Bengaluru-based gaming firm N.S.F. Games, said, “If we pay Google 30% and customers pay for acquisitions, how will our businesses survive, so it’s very important to have a local app store now.”

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said in an interview that Google was “acting as a judge, jury, and executioner”. He disagreed with all Google’s arguments but had to remove some things to reestablish his app.