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Indian app industry cheers South Korea move to rein in Apple and Google

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4 years ago

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The South Korean Parliament on Tuesday passed a Bill that is expected to rein in the control that Apple and Google have over payment systems in their app stores. The legislation is now awaiting the signature of the President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in.

This Bill is the first major legislation in the world to specifically target in-app markets and payment systems, even as market giants Apple and Google are facing global criticism for mandating the in-app use of their proprietary payment systems, and charging commissions of up to 30 per cent on the sale of apps and subscriptions through the app stores. Developers across the world have questioned these moves, and have demanded freedom to choose alternative methods of payment and distribution, such as via third-party app stores installed on the iOS or Android operating systems.

On Tuesday, South Korean legislators voted to approve amendments to their Telecommunications Business Act, with the intent of promoting fair competition in the app market industry. The bill prohibits app market business operators from taking advantage of their dominant status to force developers to use a specific payment system. It also prohibits app store service providers from engaging in activities such as preventing apps from registering on their stores, inappropriately delaying app registration and unfairly deleting apps from the app market. The move would also enable app developers to avoid the hefty commissions, and thus reduce costs both for developers and end-consumers.

In addition, the bill also empowers South Korea’s Minister of Science/ICT and the Korea Communications Commission to conduct an inquiry into the operations of the app market, to help the government more actively identify app-market related disputes and prevent acts that hinder fair competition and consumer interests.

This move comes as regulators worldwide have turned their attention to app stores and the fees they are charging developers. In the US, three senators introduced a bipartisan Bill earlier in August to promote fair competition by regulating in-app purchases and forcing dominant players from excluding third-party app stores from their operating systems. In India, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been investigating Google for potential abuses of its dominant position in the market to promote its proprietary payment services.

Apple and Google have both publicly opposed attempts to regulate their business practices through legislation.

Meanwhile, several industry players have reacted positively to the developments in South Korea. Rakesh Deshmukh, Co-founder & CEO of Indus App Bazaar, India’s largest third-party app store, shared his support for the move. He said that “policy needs to support innovation. We hope that Google enhances developer choice by allowing the listing of app distribution platforms like Indus App Bazaar on the Play Store. That would help us to formulate a B2C journey. I hope that App Stores like ourselves are allowed a fair play environment on Google Play and Android. Furthermore, in India, we need to look into developer choice for app distribution & payment gateways from a policy perspective.”

Sijo Kuruvilla, Executive Director of the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF), a startup alliance, welcomed the move by tweeting “Any legislation on the matter anywhere in the world will set a precedent for other nations to adopt and build on. To fair markets.”

Commenting on the developments from the US, the Coalition for App Fairness (CAF), an industry association of apps, reacted positively, terming it a momentous step forward, with Meghan DiMuzio, the Executive Director of CAF saying, “South Korean lawmakers and President Moon Jae-in have made history and are setting an example for the rest of the world. This law will hold app store gatekeepers accountable for their harmful and anti-competitive practices. The Coalition for App Fairness hopes U.S. and European lawmakers follow South Korea’s lead and continue their important work to level the playing field for all app developers and users.”

Match Group, that operates the largest portfolio of dating and social discovery apps such as Tinder and OKCupid, thanked South Korean Legislators in a statement, also saying that the legislation “… marks a monumental step in the fight for a fair app ecosystem…” and “…will put an end to mandatory IAP in South Korea, which will allow innovation, consumer choice, and competition to thrive in this market…” The statement adds, “We look forward to the bill being quickly signed into law and implore legislative bodies around the globe to take similar measures to protect their citizens and businesses from monopolistic gatekeepers that are restricting the Internet.”

Meanwhile, many Indian players have also noted these developments with interest, more so in context of opposition to Google’s “app tax” on in-app purchases and its impacts on local players.

NFN Labs, developers of popular apps like Screeny and Vookmark, who have had their share of run-ins with Google, Twitter, and Apple, have also been welcoming of alternative stores and choices of payment gateways.

Rajesh Padmanabhan, cofounder, NFN Labs in a statement said, “For our IoT product, Vookmark launching on Indus App bazaar has boosted our growth with a new set of engaged users…Additionally, we are exploring the ability to distribute and collect payments through alternative channels for our browser extensions, Android, and iOS packages. An alternative distribution that allows free uploads like Indus App Bazaar & lower commissions will certainly help to redirect funds for R&D and help us grow faster.”

The implications of the move in the Indian market remain to be seen, but Rakesh Deshmukh of Indus App Bazaar feels there is more that can be done with app distribution in India, “It’s about the choice of distribution; we all know that Google Play Store and App Store will continue to exist but we need more competition. We believe that choice is central to competition and hence when developers choose to distribute via our infrastructure, we allow a choice of payment gateway. This choice we believe would allow developers leverage to negotiate a reasonable fee with the two companies and payment gateway providers.”

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Indian Railways Introduces Discounted ‘Round Trip Package’ To Ease Festive Season Travel

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1 week ago

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August 9, 2025

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New Delhi: To avoid rush by ensuring hassle-free ticket booking experience during the upcoming peak festive seasons, the Ministry of Railways on Saturday said that it has decided to formulate a ‘Round Trip Package’ on discounted fare and rebates benefit.

The move will facilitate passengers and redistribute the peak traffic for a larger range during peak festival seasons and ensure both sides utilisation of trains, including special trains.

“It has been decided to formulate an experimental scheme named as Round Trip Package for festival rush on discounted fare,” the Railways Ministry stated.

According to the ministry, the scheme will be applicable for those passengers who choose their return journey during the prescribed period.

Under this scheme, rebates shall be applicable when booked for both the onward and return journey for the same set of passengers.

Passenger details of the return journey will be the same as those of the onward journey. Passengers can book their tickets from August 14 for the advance reservation period (ARP) date of October 13.

“An onward ticket shall be booked first for the train start date between 13th October 2025 and 26th October 2025, and subsequently return journey ticket shall be booked by using the connecting journey feature for the train start date between 17th November and 1st December 2025,” the Ministry stated.

However, advance reservation period will not be applicable for booking of return journey.

Other conditions to avail the benefits of the railway’s new special scheme are the booking shall be permissible only for confirmed tickets in both directions, total rebates of 20 per cent shall be granted on base fare of return journey only, booking under this scheme shall be for the same class and same O-D pair for both onward and return journey.

According to Railways, no refund of fare shall be permissible for the tickets booked under this scheme.

This scheme shall be allowed for all classes and in all trains, including special trains (Trains on demand), except trains having Flexi fare.

In addition, no modification will be allowed on these tickets in either of the journeys, and there will be no discounts, Rail travel coupons, Voucher-based bookings, or Passes be admissible during return journey booking on concessional fare.

Passenger can book their ticket via both online and offline modes; however, both onward and return journey tickets must be booked using the same mode (online or offline).

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Sensex crosses 81,000 Mark, Nifty Jumps 157 Points On Strong Metal & Auto Stocks

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2 weeks ago

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August 4, 2025

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Mumbai: The Indian stock market ended Monday on a strong note, with the BSE Sensex rising 418.81 points (0.52%) to close at 81,018.72, crossing the key 81,000 mark. During the day, it touched a high of 81,093.19. The NSE Nifty also surged by 157.40 points (0.64%) to end at 24,722.75, after hitting an intraday high of 24,734.65.

Top gainers and losers

Among major gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel, BEL, Adani Ports, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, Trent, M&M, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement and L&T.

On the flip side, Power Grid, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Hindustan Unilever ended the session with losses.

Why the market rallied

The market’s rally was mainly driven by strong performances in the metal and auto sectors. According to experts, a weakening US dollar, strong auto sales, and positive Q1 results from key companies helped boost investor confidence.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said,

“Consumption-driven companies are showing recovery in volume demand. Also, weak US job data may lead to interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.”

Global cues positive

Asian markets mostly ended in the green with Hong Kong, South Korea, and China posting gains. However, Japan’s Nikkei closed in red.

European markets were trading positively, while US markets had ended lower on Friday.

Oil prices also slipped, with Brent crude falling 1.15% to USD 68.87 per barrel.

Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,366.40 crore on Friday, as per exchange data.

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India Lost ₹22,842 Crore To Cybercriminals & Fraudsters In 2024: DataLEADS

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2 weeks ago

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August 2, 2025

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India lost Rs 22,842 crore to cybercriminals and fraudsters in 2024, DataLEADS, a Delhi-based media and tech company, said in its report on widespread digital financial frauds in the country. The amount stolen by digital criminals and fraudsters last year was nearly three times more than the Rs 7,465 crore in 2023 and almost 10 times more than the Rs 2,306 in 2022, DataLEADS said in ‘Contours of Cybercrime: Persistent and Emerging Risk of Online Financial Frauds and Deepfakes in India.

Prediction For Cyber-Crime Frauds

The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, I4C, a federal agency that liaises between state and central law enforcement, predicts Indians will lose over Rs 1.2 lakh crore this year. The number of cybercrime complaints has spiked similarly; nearly twenty lakh were reported in 2024, up from around 15.6 lakh the year before and ten times more than were logged in 2019.

The surge in the number of cybercrime complaints and the volume of money lost points to one inescapable conclusion – India’s digital crooks are getting smarter and more efficient, and, in a country with a staggering nearly 290 lakh unemployed people, their ranks are increasing.

Bank-related frauds have increased dramatically; the Reserve Bank of India reported a nearly eightfold jump in the first half of FY 2025/26 compared to the same period last year. And the amount of money lost was staggering – Rs 2,623 crore to Rs 21,367 crore. Private sector banks accounted for nearly 60 per cent of all such incidents. But it was customers in public sector banks who were worst-hit; they lost Rs 25,667 crore in all.

Why have these numbers jumped so much over the past three years?

Because of the increased use of digital payment modes – i.e., smartphone-enabled services like Paytm and PhonePe – and the sharing and processing of financial details online – via (what many believe are encrypted and fail-safe) messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.

Federal data says there were over 190 lakh UPI, or unified payment interface, transactions in June 2025 alone, and these were worth a combined Rs 24.03 lakh crore. Digital payments’ value has grown from roughly Rs 162 crore in 2013 to Rs 18,120.82 crore in January 2025, and India accounts for nearly half of all such payments worldwide.

COVID-19

Much of this increase can be attributed to the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns.

During COVID-19, the government pushed for a switch to UPI apps like Paytm to ensure social distancing and minimise contact with currency notes, via which the virus could be transmitted.

Digital Payment Tools In Rural Areas

The government also reasoned that digital payment tools would ensure greater penetration of financial services, particularly in rural areas. By 2019, India already had 440 million smartphone users and data rates were among the cheapest in the world – 1 GB cost Rs 200, or less than $3.

Insurance sector scams were also common. These included life, health, vehicle, and general, and are becoming an increasingly lucrative option for cybercriminals, particularly as insurance companies urge customers to opt for app-based services.

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