Google restores delisted Indian apps from Play Store

Google, a few days back, removed some of the popular Indian apps from the Play Store in India over non-compliance with its billing policies. Now, however, the Alphabet-owned firm has restored these apps on the app marketplace upon discussion with India’s IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Also Read: Germany Asks Apple, Google To Take Down ChatGPT-Rival DeepSeek: Here's Why

Kuku FM, Alt Balaji, Shaadi.com, and other apps back on Play Store

Shaadi.com, Bharat Matrimony, Kuku FM, 99acres, Alt Balaji, QuackQuack, Truly Madly, Stage, Naukri.com, and Jeevansathi are now back on Google’s Play Store. These apps were reinstated several hours after they were delisted. Also Read: How to Get Google Play Pass subscription on your phone?

The IT Minister Vaishnaw stated that Google has agreed to list all apps on the marketplace after constructive discussions. He further said that Google has been supportive of India’s tech development and that these grievances between Indian start-up firms and Google will come to a long-term resolution. Also Read: Best premium Games available on Google Play Store

Although Google has reinstated these apps, this is just a temporary move.

“In the spirit of cooperation, we are temporarily reinstating the apps of the developers with appeals pending in the Supreme Court. Google maintains its right to implement and enforce its business model, as established in various courts. We will invoice our full applicable service fees in the interim and are extending payment timelines for these companies. We look forward to a collaborative effort to find solutions that respect the needs of all parties,” noted Google in its statement.

As the statement noted, Google believed that it has the right to implement its business model and will extend the payment timelines for the same. Time for a recap for those uninitiated.

These previously delisted apps were trying to evade the billing fees that Google takes to offer its in-app payment services. These apps didn’t comply with Google’s policy to pay for its billing services and were instead considering third-party ways. Now, Google is extending the time to pay dodged fees.

According to Google, it gave more than three years to the app makers and three additional weeks upon the Supreme Court’s order. However, they still didn’t comply with Google’s billing policies hence the previous delisting.

It is worth noting that Google is not the only app to list apps. There are other alternative app stores like Aptoide and the newly launched Indus App Store. The latter is an Indian Play Store alternative that allows users to download third-party apps.