India open to launching its own Indian app store as an alternative to Apple, Google

India is open to launching its own personal/local app store or expanding an existing one if it receives sufficient demand from domestic companies for an alternative choice to Google and Apple platforms, a senior government official mentioned on Thursday.

The nation has around 500 million active mobile users, most of whom use Google`s app store on the Android platform, however, Indian start-ups have criticized the corporate for policies they say stifle their development process.

SoftBank-backed Paytm, one of India's leading payments companies, protested in opposition to the U.S. tech giants' decision to remove its app for a couple of hours last month citing violations of gambling policies.

Google additionally mentioned this week that it will strictly enforce a policy that will levy a 30% commission on funds made within applications on its Android store.

In response to n previous media report, a senior Indian official informed Reuters New Delhi hasn`t acquired any formal request but was willing to consider developing a mobile platform where apps could be downloaded.

"Before we open one we need to know there will be takers for it," mentioned the government official, declining to be named as he isn't authorized to talk with media.

India already runs a mobile app store that lists over 1200 primarily government-backed applications, but in addition Paytm, and the government authorities could additionally think about expanding that instead of beginning from scratch, the official added.

India`s technology ministry, Apple, and Google didn't instantly respond to requests for comment.

Google has previously mentioned that fewer than 3% of developers with mobile applications on its Play store sold digital items over the past 12 months, and practically 97% comply with its payment system policy.

Nonetheless, a number of Indian start-up founders are calling for a local app store that doesn`t charge an excessive service fee.

"It`s absolutely necessary to have a local app store," mentioned Vishal Gondal, co-founder of Bengaluru-based gaming agency nCore Games.

"If we have to give 30% fees to Google and also pay for customer acquisition, how will our budding businesses survive?"

Paytm disagreed with Google's assessment but eliminated certain promotions to have its app reinstated. The company's founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma has mentioned in interviews that Google was behaving as "judge, jury, and executioner".

Without referring to Paytm by name, Google later mentioned its policies were aimed at protecting users from potential harm and were applied and enforced on all developers consistently.