Google to Roll Out User Choice Billing for Android Apps and Games in India

Google announced this week that it’s preparing to roll out support for alternative billing systems for Android users in India. The company has already been piloting third-party billing options for non-gaming Android apps in India and other markets, but these upcoming changes to Android in India are the result of Google having to comply with new local laws.

Last year, the Competition Commission of India fined Google $161.9 million for abusing its dominant position in multiple in the Android ecosystem, and Google was required to change its anticompetitive practices following this decision. In addition to Google Play’s restrictive billing system, the antitrust regulator had also criticized Google for favoring its own apps and services on Android.

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“We take our commitment to comply with local laws and regulations in India seriously,” Google said yesterday. “The Competition Commission of India (CCI)’s recent directives for Android and Play require us to make significant changes for India, and today we’ve informed the CCI of how we will be complying with their directives.”

For Android users in India, third-party billing systems for apps and games will roll out to the Google Play Store starting next month. When setting up a new Android smartphone or tablet, Indian users will also get to choose their default search engine.

Google says that it’s also updating the Android compatibility requirements to allow OEMS “to build non-compatible or forked variants.” The company will also allow Android OEMs to “license individual Google apps for pre-installation on their devices.”

Google said yesterday that the implementation of this change will be a “complex process,” and that it will continue to defend what it believes to be right for Android users. “We continue to respectfully appeal certain aspects of the CCI’s decisions and will champion our core principles of openness, expanding user choice, providing transparency and maintaining safety and security that have served the interests of the larger ecosystem,” the company explained.

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