Some Indian apps were delisted from the Google app store, and twitter erupted. The clash between Google and Indian app developers over the tech giant's contentious Play Store policies has ignited a fiery debate. Given India's tremendous success with Digital Public Infrastructures (DPIs), such as UPI (Unified Payments Interface), many founders and tech pundits asked for the government to build and run an app store as a DPI. As someone who has been building DPIs for the last eight years, I am both fascinated and terrified by where this debate is going.
At the heart of this controversy lies a fundamental question: Should Google, which invested a lot of money to grow the Android ecosystem, be allowed to reap benefits of those investments by controlling the main distribution mechanism of apps in the Android ecosystem?
Calls For Intervention
Google's Play Store rules mandate that apps generating revenue through the store must use the company's own billing system, for which it charges a steep commission of up to 30%. This has drawn ire from many app makers, who argue that this policy not only forces them to pay exorbitant fees but also stifles innovation by preventing them from exploring alternative payment options that could be more cost-effective or better suited to their needs.
In defiance of these rules, some Indian app developers have attempted to circumvent Google's payment system, resulting in their apps being unceremoniously booted from the Play store. This heavy-handed approach has sparked calls for regulatory intervention, with demands for the establishment of a government-backed app store or a digital public infrastructure to counterbalance Google's dominance.
The question that some of you may have, is why can't someone else make or run an app store? Technically, Google even allows it, and in a recent ambitious move, PhonePe even launched their own Indus App Store. But you will see the issue when you go to their website and look at the "steps to install" page.
Are We Prepared Enough?
One of the key functions that an app-store performs is reviewing apps and making sure they are safe for consumers to use - that these apps are not stealing your identity, your data, or your money. You can theoretically download apps from outside of an app store by directly downloading them, but this is exactly what a scammer or malicious hacker would want you to do. Hence, the android ecosystem makes it hard (and scary) for you to download apps outside the app store.
While the allure of a state-run app store may seem tempting at first glance, one has to ask if we are actually prepared to build and run a parallel infrastructure that does all of these functions. There's the user experience of the app store, the manual reviewing and security testing, the hosting, storage and network costs of serving millions of app downloads every day, and the discretion that these app stores have on who gets visibility and who ranks first.
Need For Balance
Instead, a more nuanced approach is needed - one that strikes a balance between fostering a healthy competitive landscape and preserving the incentives for continued investment and innovation. Rather than a full-fledged state-run app store, a "surgical strike" DPI that empowers India to define its own standards for "trusted" apps could be a viable solution.
This DPI could take the form of a whitelist of approved app stores, allowing users to download and install apps from these vetted sources without encountering the daunting warnings and roadblocks typically associated with "untrusted" sources. This approach would not only provide greater choice to consumers but also encourage app stores to adhere to transparent and fair policies in order to gain the coveted "trusted" status. Most importantly, this DPI is simple to build. We could get the tech running in less than a week.
An Idea Not Without Challenges
However, even this solution is not without its policy challenges. Thorny governance issues surrounding the maintenance of such a whitelist and ensuring the integrity of approved app stores would need to be addressed. Nonetheless, these might be surmountable. We can have simple reporting requirements and adjudication via Online Dispute Resolution to surface and resolve disputes between app builders and app stores. This targeted intervention could strike a delicate balance, respecting the investments and innovations of tech giants while also ensuring a level-playing field for local developers and fostering a more vibrant and competitive app ecosystem.
While India has had great success with UPI, and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) deserves to take a bow, we can't take the same success for granted for each DPI we attempt. One key feature that I would attribute UPI's success to was the simplicity of its architecture, the elegance of the solution being the lightness of its protocol. If we really want a competitive app store ecosystem, we must recognise what functions must remain with the private market, and what functions are suited to the layer of Infrastructure.
Only through such a balanced and forward-looking approach can India truly unlock the full potential of its burgeoning app ecosystem and cement its position as a leading force in the digital age.
(Tanuj Bhojwani is currently the head of People+ai, a not-for-profit working on AI for good. Since 2016, he has been working on various technical, legal and policy aspects of Digital Public Infrastructure with Nandan Nilekani, with whom he has also co-authored a book “The Art of Bitfulness”. He is currently on the Board of the Digital Public Goods Alliance)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.