Google's update to Play Store billing policy will now come into effect from October 2022 instead of March 2022 for India, Economic Times reported on Friday. Why this matters? The new policy, which was announced in September 2020, makes Google's in-app billing system mandatory for all in-app purchases, which, in turn, means that developers have to pay the company 10 to 30 percent of their revenue as commission. This delay in implementation is a reprieve for start-ups as they can continue to use their existing billing systems for longer. Why is Google delaying the policy change? The reason for the extension is because of the complications posed by RBI's new rules on recurring payments, Google indicated. A company spokesperson told ET: "We are extending this to 31st October 2022 to provide developers in India the required product support for recurring payments through convenient user payment systems, including UPI and wallets, and also provide them more time in light of the changes to India’s recurring digital payments guidelines." What is the new policy? According to Google, there is no real change in policy, but rather a clarification on the applicability of its billing rules. In its blog post published in September last year, the company said: "We’ve always required developers who distribute their apps on Play to use Google Play’s billing system if they offer in-app purchases of digital goods, and pay a service fee from a percentage of the purchase. [...] But we have heard feedback that our policy language could be more clear…
