PhonePe takes on Google Play Store with Indus Appstore

Indigenous fintech firm PhonePe on Wednesday (February 21) launched the much-awaited Indus Appstore in India.

Indus Appstore offers more than two lakh mobile apps and games, across 45 categories for Android phone users

With the new third-party Indus Appstore, PhonePe is taking on global giant Google which runs Play Store for millions of Android devices in India.

“Indus Appstore challenges the status quo, ushering in an era of more healthy competition in the mobile app marketplace, which in turn should help create a more democratic and vibrant Indian digital ecosystem. Indus Appstore embodies our commitment to building a truly inclusive digital ecosystem where every Indian user feels at home,” said Sameer Nigam, founder and CEO of PhonePe.

Indus Appstore: Key aspects you should know about PhonePe's third-party app store

-- Besides two lakh apps and games, Indus Appstore supports 12 Indian languages that can cater up to 95 per cent of the population. The apps can be downloaded from the official website(here)

-- Developers don't have to pay any gatekeeping fees to Indus Appstore at least for one year (up to April 1, 2025).

-- Also, developers don't have to pay any commission for any in-app purchase made by customers on an app downloaded from Indus Appstore. On Google Play, app developers have to at least 15 per cent cut on any in-app purchase made by the customer

--Developers will be free to use any 3rd-party payment gateway of their choice on Indus Appstore. Recently, Google has begun to offer more options other than its proprietary billing gateway to comply with the Competition Commission of India (CCI)'s antitrust directives.

Indus Appstore.

It should be noted that only Android apps are available on Indus Appstore.

There are no apps for iPhones, as iOS apps can only be downloaded from the official Apple App Store.

Also, there is no directive from CCI to the Cupertino-based company to offer provision to sideload iOS apps on iPhones yet in India.

However, in the European Union, Apple has agreed to comply Digital Market Act 2023 Bill to offer the side-loading option for apps on third-party stores and online marketplace.

It remains to be seen if PhonePe or any other app developer consortium plans to go to CCI to bring a similar directive in India.

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