Skip to main content

Paytm App Removed From Google Play Store: Google Pulls Down Payment App For Repeat Privacy Violations

 


Google has pulled popular Indian financial services app Paytm from the Play Store for violating its gambling policies. Paytm is India’s most valuable startup and claims over 50 million monthly active users. Its marquee app, which competes with Google Pay in India, disappeared from the Play Store in the country earlier Friday.

Google said that Play Store prohibits online casinos and other unregulated gambling apps that facilitate sports betting in India. Paytm, which promotes fantasy sports service within its marquee app, repeatedly violated Play Store’s policies, two people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. Paytm’s fantasy sports service, called Paytm First Games, was also available as a standalone app and it has been pulled, too, from the Play Store.

The Android-maker, which maintains similar guidelines around gambling in most other markets, additionally noted that if an app leads consumers to an external website that allows them to participate in paid tournaments to win real money or cash prizes will also be deemed in violation of its Play Store policies.

In an email Google has sent to many firms in India, and was reviewed by TechCrunch, the company has asked developers to pause all advertising campaigns in their apps to drive users to websites that offer installation files of sports betting apps.

The announcement today from Google is also a preemptive attempt from the company to remind other developers about its gambling policies a day before the popular cricket tournament Indian Premier League is scheduled to kick off.

Previous seasons of IPL, which last for nearly two months and attract the attention of hundreds of millions of Indians, have seen a surge in apps that look to promote or participate in sports betting.

While sports betting is banned in India, fantasy sports, where users select their favorite players and win if their preferred teams or players play well, is not illegal in most Indian states.

A person familiar with the matter told TechCrunch that Google has also asked Disney+ Hotstar, one of the most popular on-demand video streaming services in India, to display a warning before running ads about fantasy sports apps.

“We have these policies to protect users from potential harm. When an app violates these policies, we notify the developer of the violation and remove the app from Google Play until the developer brings the app into compliance,” wrote Suzanne Frey, Vice President, Product, Android Security and Privacy, in a blog post.

“And in the case where there are repeated policy violations, we may take more serious action which may include terminating Google Play Developer accounts. Our policies are applied and enforced on all developers consistently,” she added.

In a televised interview with CNBC TV18, Paytm co-founder and chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma accused Google of not allowing Paytm to acquire new users.


Sandip Ginodia , CEO

ALTIUS INVESTECH PVT LTD

We deal in over 60 unlisted companies with 15 years of experience 

For latest prices visit : www.abhisheksecurities.com/unlisted.htm / call : 09830271248 .

Email : ginodiasandip1@gmail.com

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Please leave your name and email id along with the comment .
Get the updates from this blog direct to your inbox . Fill in your email id on the home page.

Popular posts from this blog

Reliance's JioMart is averaging half a million orders per day; WhatsApp driving growth

  JioMart , Reliance's online-to-offline commerce  platform that launched in May , has scaled up rapidly, riding on the pandemic-fuelled digital acceleration. The service, which went   live in 200 cities across India, is currently processing an average of  500,000 orders per day. " We can go even higher on peak days",  Jio Platforms CEO   Kiran Thomas  revealed at the Facebook for Fuel India 2020 event. He said, "JioMart is empowering millions of  kiranas  and small merchants through the simple and secure platform of WhatsApp, and linking them to Reliance Retail's pan-India supply chain. We expect to grow manifold in future, and are optimistic about enabling new cohorts of users and making it easier for them to shop for daily essentials."  "Customers are transacting seamlessly on JioMart and the  conversational nature of the service  enabled by WhatsApp has made people adapt to it intuitively," he added. Reliance also stated th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Zomato, Swiggy score 1/10 on working conditions for their workers – ET Retail

Some of India's biggest startups have ranked near the bottom when it comes to  working conditions  for their gig  workers , according to a report released Wednesday. While  Swiggy ,  Zomato  and Uber India scored 1/10, Urban Company and Flipkart’s logistics arm EKart scored the highest 8/10 and 7/10, respectively, ‘ Fairwork India Ratings  2020: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy’  showed . The report assessed the companies on five principles: fair play, fair conditions, fair contracts, fair management, and fair representation. Deepinder Goyal, chief executive officer of Zomato Media Pvt. Ltd., acknowledged the ratings on Twitter. “Zomato ranked at the bottom of 2020 Fairwork India scores. We knew we had things to work on, but we didn’t know that there is so much room for improvement.” The company takes full responsibility and “will leave no stone unturned to perform better in the rankings next year,” he added. Zomato received a 4/10 in ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Times Internet posts 24% revenue jump to Rs 1,625 Cr in FY20

  Times Internet has posted a 24% jump in its annual revenue in the financial year ending March, recording Rs 1,625 crore in revenue in FY20. In its annual report, the company  said the revenue growth has been adjusted for seasonality of cricket events. In FY19, it had posted revenues of $196 million. The company has registered a surge across its revenue streams i.e. advertising revenue, subscribers, transaction revenue and gross merchandise value (GMV) in the last fiscal year. While advertising revenue grew 22% with faster growth in music and video, overall subscribers to Times Prime grew 62%.  Times Internet’s annualized GMV in transacting businesses grew 68% with a 75% jump in net revenues, said the company in its annual report. Its subscription and transactional businesses include Times Prime, Gaana Plus, TOI+, ET Prime, and Gourmet Passport.  Times Prime also crossed 2 million subscribers last year. “We broadened our media strategy beyond news, and we focused on...
Post a Comment
Read more