To comply with a South Korean law passed in August, Google last week announced that it will give developers selling in-app digital goods and services the option to add an alternative billing system alongside Google Play’s billing system for their users in South Korea. While South Korea set the precedent with a law that forces Google and Apple to open their app stores to alternative payment systems, developers and regulators in many other countries, including India, are demanding the same, and Google's move in South Korea might be a sign of what is to come to the rest of the world. The company did not indicate a timeline for when this new policy will go active but said that it will share implementation details such as security and user experience guidelines for developers in the coming weeks and months. Developers still have to pay commission to Google, but at a reduced rate The primary reason developers want to use a different billing system is to avoid the high commissions charged by Google, which is anywhere between 10 to 30 percent depending on the type of app and developer. But Google is not letting this happen. "Service fees for distributing apps via Android and Google Play will continue to be based on digital sales on the platform. We recognize, however, that developers will incur costs to support their billing system, so when a user selects alternative billing, we will reduce the developer’s service fee by 4%," the company said. This means developers who were earlier…
