PhonePe has released the Indus Appstore to compete with Google Play in India

New Delhi: PhonePe, a digital payments firm headquartered in Bengaluru, has released its own app store platform, specifically aimed at Android developers in India.

The Indus Appstore Developer Platform was introduced on Saturday, and unlike Google’s Play Store, it does not charge developers a platform fee or take a cut of in-app sales or registrations for the first year.

🚨 PhonePe officially launches it’s own play store named ‘INDUS Appstore’ pic.twitter.com/E0tYk3ISlT

— Indian Tech & Infra (@IndianTechGuide) September 23, 2023

For the first year, PhonePe will not charge developers a listing fee, but after that, there will be a nominal price. Unlike Google, which takes a 15-30 per cent cut of in-app sales, the firm would not charge a fee on such transactions.

Features like as third-party payment processors, 12 Indian languages, and a phone number-based login mechanism are all supported by the app store, making it suitable for the local market.

The Bengaluru-based business has over 450 million registered users on its eponymous payments app, and it has announced that developers may begin registering and uploading their applications on the ‘made-in-India app store as of today.

PhonePe has announced that it has established an India-based team to provide help to developers. This comes after several Indian programmers voiced their dissatisfaction with Google’s slow replies and American business hours.

What an exciting day!
The big unveil of @IndusAppstore – India ka Appstore.

Developers seize this opportunity.
The Developer Platform is live, hurry up and
sign up now ➡️➡️ https://t.co/pdiYup3Daw @_TechSparks @YourStoryCo #IndusAppstore

It’s a wrap. pic.twitter.com/zNMVCcuYpX

— PhonePe (@PhonePe) September 23, 2023

In its quest to locate the next big growth markets outside of the United States, Google has invested over $10 billion in the Indian market over the last decade. Despite its massive reach in South Asia, where over 700 million people use the internet, Google is becoming the target of criticism and governmental interference.

PhonePe’s app store is set to debut in April, according to TechCrunch. According to those in the know, PhonePe has been working on the app store for years and views it internally as a critical strategic move, especially after raising $850 million in recent quarters by acquiring IndusOS in 2021 and then fighting a legal struggle to finalise the startup purchase.

Since more than 95% of all smartphones in India run Google’s Android operating system, the introduction of the Indus Appstore Developer Platform comes at a time when many Indian companies and startups have become disgruntled with Google.