Google Play's first carrier billing partnership in India (with Idea Cellular), which allows users to pay for apps and in-app purchases with their mobile prepaid balance, has been a long time coming. Discussions with Indian telecom operators have gone for years (at least four) but the bone of contention has always been revenue share. At the core of the revenue-sharing issue is how the Indian government taxes telecom operator revenue. Google's discussions with carriers have had complications, though Mike Hayes, Director (Business Development for Android and Chrome Partnerships) avoided answering our questions about them. How consumers are charged At a press conference today, Idea Cellular and Google showcased how the billing mechanism for consumers will work: Idea Cellular users will have an additional option for payment using "Idea billing" available for the Play Store, and after confirming the purchase with Google, they will receive an SMS with a particular code which they'll have to input, to verify their purchase for Idea: a double confirmation, in a way. In addition to the amount to be paid, customers will have to pay an additional convenience fee. An example that Google and Idea showcased had the following math: - Cost of app (Product fee): Rs 10 - Convenience fee: Rs 1.6 - Total cost to consumer: Rs 11.6 Of this, as per the Play Store policies, Google keeps 30% of Rs 10 (i.e. Rs 3), and the developer gets Rs 7. In addition to this, purchases can be refunded within 2 hours, as per the…
