Leading gaming platform CEOs expressed their deep concern over Google’s ‘extortionist’ 30 per cent levy on gaming apps in the nation on Monday.
Customers who must make mandatory in-app purchases are restricted from using their payment systems, which entails a commission cost of up to 30 per cent.
The 30 per cent commission may be workable in developed markets like the US, but Sai Srinivas, Co-founder and CEO of Mobile Premier League (MPL) emphasised that for India, it is essential to make sure that Indian game developers receive more money so they can invest in game development and create new games.
In the event that a developer charges Rs 100, Rs 30 goes to the play store or app store and Rs 70 goes to the developer. They must pay for hosting, user acquisition and other costs out of the Rs 70.
In a panel discussion at “Consilience 2023,” which was put on by the Law and Technology Society (L-Tech) at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in collaboration with the All India Game Developers’ Forum (AIGDF), Srinivas said, “In my opinion, we should provide Indian game developers with more revenue so that they can invest in game development and build more games.”
The 30 per cent tax on gaming apps, according to IndiGG co-founder Manish Agarwal, is unreasonable.
He declared, “I believe we should not allow anyone to do this in India, especially when you’re not an Indian company. The 30 per cent ‘jagirdari’ tax is extortion.”
It is inefficient from the standpoint of a gamer to put an additional 30 per cent tax on top of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), according to Agarwal.
Last Monday, the Alliance for Digital India Foundation (ADIF) won Assemblywoman Jungmin Hong’s support in its ongoing campaign against Google’s alleged monopolistic practices in India.
Hong recently supported ADIF and compared India’s circumstances to South Korea’s.
The world’s first “IAP Act,” which forbids obligatory in-app purchases, was inspired by South Korea’s own experience with Google’s anti-competitive practices.
The regulation in South Korea was created to defend the application ecosystem from monopolistic control by big companies and to protect consumers. Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), the nation’s fair trade watchdog, recently fined Google USD 32 million for preventing the release of games on a rival’s platform.
Sean Hyunil Sohn, CEO of Krafton India, participated in the panel discussion and advocated for the correct government intervention as well as the growth of consumer-supported competition from third-party retailers.
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