New Delhi, Mar 19 (EFE).- India’s top court was set to begin a trial against Google on Tuesday in a case filed by a dozen developers over the service fee charged by the technology giant to market their applications on its in-app store.<\/p>
The case comes weeks after Google briefly suspended 10 apps by domestic start-ups on Play Store over non-payment of service fees. <\/p>
The companies, which described Google’s pricing policy as monopolistic and excessive, moved to the top court after lower courts dismissed their appeals.<\/p>
Google charges a service fee of between 15 to 30 percent of the income, well above the two percent charged by other similar platforms, the founder of one of the companies, Murugavel Janakiraman, said.<\/p>
The companies had refused to pay this service fee, which led Google to briefly suspend them from the Play Store on Mar. 2.<\/p>
The legal dispute over pricing began last year when Janakiraman’s company requested a protection order regarding the payment.<\/p>
“Commercial app developers are forced to accept Google policy. Either accept or get deleted,” said Janakiraman.<\/p>
The apps were restored on Play Store on Mar. 5, when the Electronics and Information Technology Ministry intervened and held discussions with Google and the app owners.<\/p>
Tuesday’s hearing could set a precedent for the digital infrastructure sector in the country if the apex court rules in favor of the developers. EFE <\/p>
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