Paytm First Games is back again on Google two weeks after it got removed with Paytm app. The app has made a number of changes along with its comeback. While removing the apps, Google said that their policies doesn’t allow “casinos or support any unregulated gambling apps which facilitate sports betting, including daily fantasy sports”.
Now Paytm has Paytm First Games on Google Play that never asks for real cash and has a bonus account that adds bonuses from previous bids. This is different from the previous Paytm First Games app that had real cash transactions to play fantasy games.
Google and Paytm have not made any official comment on this till now. A recently published blog post stated that Paytm First Games announced the comeback of their app on Google Play.
Paytm said that the app has been brought back with free fantasy sports and the pro version is available for direct download via Paytm First Games website. The pro version lets users add real money through UPI, cards or net banking to deposit account and this is not available in the Google Play version. Paytm has alleged a “dichotomy” between policies of Google Play and ads business of Google.
Paytm stated in a blog post that Google does not allow them to promote their pro app on their own free app or Paytm app and they can promote it on Google and YouTube by paying a hefty amount to Google. In short, Play Store would ban the Paytm app or Paytm First Games app if they promote their pro app. But they would freely allow YouTube to promote their free app for a fee.
Paytm First Games said that though Google blocked fantasy gaming, it is a legal business in the country.
The company said in a blog post that Google’s arbitrary policies and their arbitrary interpretation is a dangerous and extra-judicial enforcement of monopolistic powers against developers and users’ interests.
Google pulled Paytm and Paytm First Games apps from Play Store on 18th September. Google did not provide any clarity about the removal and redirected media queries to a blog post that highlighted their gambling policies. Paytm hit back at Google after that as their normal app came back to Play Store and claimed that the normal app was removed for providing cashbacks.
Google, as a response to Paytm’s claim, said in a statement that offering cashbacks and vouchers alone do not constitute a violation of the gambling policies of Google Play. They further explained that in case of repeated policy violations, serious action including termination of Google Play developer accounts might be taken.
Paytm and many tech startups of India conducted a video conference recently to discuss the national alternative to Google Play. The discussion was moved to government and aimed to take on Google which at present dominates the market of app stores in India. The entrepreneurs taking part in the discussion pointed out the 30% cut imposed by Google for offering in-app purchase mechanism.
Paytm has also announced the Paytm Mini App Store with big advertisements in newspapers. Its not a full fledged app store like Apple App Store or Google Play Store that offers native applications and developer tools but is a collection of Progressive Web Apps that run inside the browser within Paytm app and some say that it is the first step of providing developers an alternative to Google Play.
As a response to the problems raised by Indian entrepreneurs, Google rolled back the enforcement of 30% in-app commission for developers through Google Play billing system in India till 31st March, 2022.