Indian startup founders bat for govt-monitored app store to challenge Apple, Google

Apple, Google Play Store may soon get competition from the startup founders in India have asked the government to support them in making an app store to counter them.

According to the Economic Times, on Tuesday, a group of startup founders discussed ways to come up with an Indian app store that could host local apps.

Group of founders including Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Yashish Dahiya of Policybazaar, and Matrimony.com's Murugavel Janakiraman have demanded app neutrality. "If India has net neutrality, why can't we have app neutrality. A body monitored by the government can ensure app neutrality, fairness, and openness," ET quoted Jayaraman as saying.

Another founder in the group, Visha Patel, founder of CCA venue, said, "The government has to step in and take the lead on this certainly. If there is some kind of restriction imposed due to geopolitical tensions, an Indian app store can save the day for everyone."

The founders have expressed their unhappiness over Google's play store guidelines, which give it the right to take a 30 per cent cut on in-app purchases.

"The company is forcing developers to use its own payment gateway, it is also controlling how ads appear, and there are issues on search; they seem to have an unabated power over the entire ecosystem which we are against," Patel told ET.