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120 Indian startups join hands to take on Google
120 Indian startups join hands to take on Google
This startups association will be non-profit and independent of existing bodies similar to the CII and IAMAI.
The leads of more than 120 startups are planning to form a local app developers' association within a month time to give competition to global tech giants like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Apple told three startup founders. The move comes against the dissatisfaction among Indian startups against Google and their Play Store rules.
As per the Mint report, this startups association will be non-profit and independent of existing bodies similar to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), said Murugavel Janakiraman, founder of Matrimony.com informed Mint.
The reports suggest that this new association will be used only to lobby the cause of app developers in India.
IAMAI that represents India's digital and mobile ecosystem, that also has Google India as a member. To hear the Indian startups concerns against Google's growing monopoly, held a closed-door meeting on Saturday.
IAMAI and Google India have refused to comment on the matter.
"We, as a group of Indian startup developers, will come together to make an independent congregation. They (Google) cannot be a single gatekeeper to the whole Indian internet ecosystem, especially when they claim to be a non-Indian entity. This is similar to the 'Salt Movement," said Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
Recently Google had reiterated its Play billing policy, which requires Indian developers using Play to pay a 30% commission for it. This was greeted with outrage by local startup founders, forcing Google to soften its stance and provide an extension for the rule to take effect until March 31, 2022.
But, founders are still not happy and advising the Centre to regulate Google and other big tech firms, while doing away with commissions and arbitrary policies of the Play Store. "If they are charging 30% commission for just providing Play Store, they should at least offer customer care service to Indian apps," said Sharma.
On Thursday, Paytm announced the launch of a mini-app store to help small businesses get discovered. It also launched a ₹10 crore developer fund, which will work as an incubator to support Indian app-creators.
