Google pushed back a pending deadline for enforcing its billing policy on in-app purchases in India to April 2022, following reports the country is developing an alternative app marketplace to eliminate the often controversial 30 per cent fee the online store charges developers.

In a statement, Purnima Kochikar, director of Business Development, Games and Applications at Google Play, said it is extending the time for developers in India to integrate with the Play billing system to ensure they have enough time to implement the UPI (unified payments interface) for the subscription payment option, noting for all apps that are yet to launch, or that currently use an alternative payment system, the deadline is pushed to 31 March 2022.

“We are setting up listening sessions with leading Indian start-ups to understand their concerns more deeply. We will be setting up policy workshops to help clear any additional questions about our Play Store policies,” she explained.

Late last week, news channel ET Now reported the country was planning a marketplace free of the typical 30 per cent fees. The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing was tasked with producing the Indian store.

The company last week clarified its payments policy, setting a September 2021 deadline for full enforcement worldwide.

Kochikar said the clarification was in response to developer feedback that the policy language could be more clear regarding which types of transactions require the use of Google Play’s billing system, adding the policy only applies if a developer charges users to download their app or they sell in-app digital items, which is less than 3 per cent of developers with apps on Google Play.

“Our payments policy is not new. In fact, more than 97 per cent of developers with apps on Google Play already comply with the policy.”