PhonePe Calls On Developers To Take On Google App Store Monopoly
To lure developers, PhonePe has said that app listings on the Indus Appstore Developer Platform will be free for the first year.
Fintech giant PhonePe Pvt. on Saturday invited Android app developers to list their applications on the Indus Appstore platform, which is pegged as an alternative to Google Play's Android monopoly.
"These apps will be listed on the soon-to-be-launched 'Made-in-India' Indus Appstore, offering a localized experience in 12 languages, completely customized for Indian audiences," the company said in a statement.
To lure developers, PhonePe has said that app listings on the Indus Appstore Developer Platform will be free for the first year, after which a nominal annual fee will apply.
Further, the app store will not charge developers any platform fee or commission for in-app payments, something that has been a thorn between Google and Indian app developers. Developers will also be free to integrate any payment gateway of their choice inside their own apps.
The Alliance for Digital India Foundation—which counts Paytm and Matrimony.com Ltd. among its members and has been protesting Google's service fee by calling it lagaan or tax—has argued that Google remains in blatant violation of CCI's orders.
"India is poised to have over 1 billion smartphone users by 2026, offering us a massive opportunity to build a new-age, localized Android app store. Despite being such a large consumer market, app developers have always been forced to work with only one app store - Google Playstore - for distributing their apps. Indus Appstore hopes to provide app developers a credible alternative to the Google Playstore," said Akash Dongre, Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder, Indus Appstore.
In April this year, PhonePe had told BQ Prime that it has closed terms with one of the largest Android smartphone makers on its road to launch an India-centric app store.
In July 2022, the Sameer Nigam-led company acquired IndusOS after an out-of-court settlement with Affle India Ltd. Indus OS is a mobile platform that has built an Android-based app store termed Indus App Bazaar.
PhonePe is currently in the middle of a massive $1 billion fundraising exercise, having already raised $850 million of the sum. With the money, it has expressed intent to scale new businesses like insurance, wealth management, lending, stockbroking, and account aggregators.
