Vijay Shekhar Sharma wants joint action as Google persists with Paytm's Play Store exile

Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma in a tweet targeted the Google Play Store on Saturday and said that India should force the Play Store to allow other payment systems in Android apps. The founder of one of India’s top digital payment applications said that this is a long-standing demand of the Indian developers to get on board the Play Store for Android users, as the Play Store holds the biggest internet market in India.

Google Play should be forced to allow other Indian payment applications

In a tweet, Vijay Shekhar Sharma said, "India must review long due demand of Indian developers and force Google's Play store to allow other payment systems in Android apps." 
 

Paytm CEO, who can be often seen hitting out at the Google Play Store ever since Paytm was removed from the application store, had made the comment in the backdrop of a lawsuit filed against the Apple Play Store in the US. Recently, in a trial, a US court ruled that Apple can't force developers to use its payment system in apps.

The lawsuit was filed by the Epic Games against Apple. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also extended support to Fortnite maker Epic Games after it found itself embroiled in a legal battle with tech giant Apple over App Store's legal fees.

A month ago, on Sunday, August 1, Paytm CEO extended support to Epic Games in a tweet made by Elon Musk. Taking to Twitter, the Paytm founder had stated that Google Play Store fees was "costlier than a business tax on India's internet ecosystem", and amounted to nearly 30%, excluding the GST.

Google removed Paytm

Earlier, Google removed Paytm’s main application from the Google Play Store on September 18 last year while other applications such as Paytm Money, Paytm for Business, and Paytm's movie ticketing application were still available on the Play Store for users to install.

Even though Google did not mention the exact reason for the drastic move, the search giant had said earlier that Google Play Store is “designed to provide a safe and secure experience for our consumers while also giving developers the platform and tools they need to build sustainable businesses”.

Image: PTI