Indian developers on Thursday questioned Google’s decision to allow music streaming service Spotify and a select number of apps to use its payment and billing system. This is a U-turn from the tech giant’s earlier mandate of pushing developers to use its own Google Play billing system for in-app downloads.

The Alliance of Digital India Foundation, an industry body representing India’s digital startups said that Google’s ‘user choice billing’ announcement for ‘select’ developers is discriminatory and creates an ‘illusion of choice’.

“Forcing app developers to use Google or Apple’s billing system for in-app purchases and then charging steep commissions to publish apps on their marketplace is an unfair practice by the two ‘gatekeepers’ of the digital economy and a clear abuse of their dominant power,” the industry body said in a statement on Thursday.

Google’s app distribution platform Play Store currently mandates developers to use its in-house billing system which charges them up to 30% per translation for in-app downlands.

Earlier in 2020, several tech start-ups and app developers opposed Google Play’s billing system calling it a ‘walled garden’ since they were forced to part away with hefty commissions. In September 2020, Google began charging commissions of up to 30% for app developers selling digital content through its Play Store, especially for in-app purchases and subscriptions.

However, for physical goods such as ride-hailing services, Google did not mandate companies to stick to its Play billing system. But Google is yet to enforce its policy in full after it received global backlash from developers and tech companies.

For India, the tech giant has announced October 31, 2022, as the deadline for developers to integrate with Play’s billing system.

However, Google’s latest move to allow Spotify and a set of apps to use their billing system of choice has raised eyebrows in India with developers remarking that choice-based billing should be made a rule for all developers and not an exception for a select company.

“Extending this to only a few companies without much clarity on the terms & commission rates reeks of preferential treatment – again unfair & discriminatory,” the industry body said in a statement.

Sijo Kuruvilla George, executive director, ADIF said that Google’s proposal to allow choice billing has nothing to do with “user” choice and does nothing to address the underlying issues and concerns — the anti-competitive nature of the policy.

“Moreover, the announcement is an arrogant attempt at headline management and a blatant disregard for the concerns that are repeatedly being raised by companies and developers the world over.”

The backlash from Indian developers and intervention by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) forced Google to extend the Play Billing deadline to October in India. However, for the rest of the world, come March 30, developers will have to pay high commissions and mandatorily use the Google Billing System. It’s about time Google’s high-handedness is put to an end.

“With their measures and announcements, Google is trying to create an illusion of choice. We at ADIF urge for an extension of choice to all apps and an immediate extension of the March 30 deadline for all,” added Sijo Kuruvilla George.

There has been a global backlash against both Apple and Google with South Korea recently being the first to take legislative action against the anti-competitive and restrictive practices of app store operators by barring the act of forcing a specific payment method to a provider of mobile content.