Indian Dating Apps in Dispute with Google Play Store

Last week, a number of Indian apps were removed from the country’s Google Play Store after a dispute over billing policies. Apps affected by this evolving situation include dating app QuackQuack and matchmaking platform TrulyMadly.

Explaining their decision, Google released a statement saying “Today, we have over 200,000 Indian developers using Google Play who adhere to our policies, helping us ensure we have a safe platform; however, for an extended period of time, 10 companies, including many well-established ones, have chosen to not pay for the immense value they receive on Google Play by securing interim protections from court”.

More than a dozen apps were removed from the Google Play Store last week, TechCrunch reports. These include: TrulyMadly, Shaadi, Matrimony.com, Bharat Matrimony, Naukri, 99acres, Kuku FM, Stage, QuackQuack, and more.

In a post on LinkedIn, Ravi Mittal, CEO of QuackQuack, confirmed that the Indian dating app, with more than 30 million users, had been removed from the android app store. 

Explaining the situation, Mittal shared that the decision came “just because we 10 companies dared to go to Madras High Court and Supreme Court challenging Google’s non-compliance with the laws of the land because Google is enforcing a 11%-26% commission on each transaction to itself! Google has shown what we have been fighting for 3 years – it’s dominance and zero-regard for laws”.

This situation is evolving as some apps have now returned to the Google Play Store. 

“Apps got back because of compliance and not because of reversal of decision by Google. Developers complied with consumption only model for the time being so that at least their apps are visible on the Play Store”, Snehil Khanor, Chief Matchmaker at TrulyMadly, told Hindustan Times.

In a statement over the weekend, Khanor described the initial removal saying “the reality is that only some of us have the stomach to keep fighting their abuse of monopolistic practices while the rest have succumbed to their draconian tactics”.

Global Dating Insights will continue to report on this story as it develops.