On Saturday, a group of fifteen startup founders held a virtual meeting with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to apprise the regulator about Google’s anti-competitive policies in India, 2 founders aware of the meeting said.

The discussion involved Google’s recent imposition of its Play Store billing system on Indian developers, as well as the 30 per cent commission the company charges for selling digital goods & services through the system, they said on the condition of anonymity.

The founders said that phones with Google’s Android operating system (OS) are preloaded with the Play Store app distribution platform, giving it an inherent advantage over rivals.

Because of its dominance in app discovery & distribution, Google forces Indian developers to build & change apps based on its OS & app store, they alleged, adding that the company’s “arbitrary policies” illustrate this behaviour.

“With more than 95% of India’s digital population accessing the Internet through Google, this strategy of having an OS & Play Store, together gives Google an advantage over other app stores & operating systems. Hence, we have requested them to look into this matter,” said one of the founders present at the meeting.

The founders are now planning to send a written communication to both the ministry of electronics & information technology (MeitY) as well as the CCI, this week after collating views from the industry. The startup ecosystem will send a single letter to both the government & CCI, the founder said.

Last week, Mint reported that 120 Indian startup founders were looking to form an independent non-profit lobby to take on Google in India.

On Friday, in an interview, Murugavel Janakiraman, founder of Matrimony.com, said the companies are looking at “all possibilities”, including approaching the CCI & the Govt.

He couldn't be reached for comment after the Saturday meeting.

An email sent to Google didn't elicit a response.

If the startups file a case against Google with the CCI, it will be the fifth such case Google faces in India.

2 independent Advocates filed an antitrust case against Google last week for abusing its dominance in AndroidTV, while the regulator is also looking into 2 other antitrust suits against the company.

In 2018, it had fined Google ₹136 crore for abusing its dominance in search.

Google has faced a strong backlash from Indian startups over the past two weeks after it issued a clarification for the already existing Play Billing policy in India.

While the company hasn’t rolled back the 30 per cent commission it charges for sales through the Play Store, it has given Indian startups 6 more months than global to comply with this policy.

Additionally, Google has also been arranging meetings with developers & startup founders to listen to their concerns & has said that it will do policy workshops with companies as well.

Some startups are already looking at alternative listing for their apps through Android Application Package (APK) downloads on their websites. There are instances such as fantasy sports platform Dream11 getting 100 million users without listing on Google Play Store.

The Govt Official said that the Central Govt, which has been in listening mode so far, had asked startups last week to send a letter apprising it of the challenges. The founders plan to send this application by this week. A view will be firmed up after deliberations at various levels.

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