Google India is extending the deadline for developers to integrate with its Play Store’s billing system to October 31, 2022 from the earlier deadline of March 31, 2022. The development comes amid the changing recurring digital payments landscape following guidelines from the RBI.

In-app purchases through Google Play’s billing system are subject to a service fee which was initially pegged at 30 per cent. This led to several Indian startups voicing their concern over the tech giant’s move of enforcing a steep billing system that could eat into a major chunk of the developer’s revenue. With digital subscriptions on a rise, customer acquisition and retention is a major focus area for any business which requires spending.

Following discussions with developers in several subscription based online businesses, Google has subsequently on October 21 cut the service fees for all subscriptions from 30 per cent to 15 per cent and fees for Play Store Media Experience program focussed at video, audio and book developers to 10 per cent.

“We recognise the unique needs of the developer ecosystem in India and remain committed to partnering with developers in India on their growth journey.

“In October 2020, we had announced March 31, 2022 as the timeline for developers in India to integrate with Play’s billing system. We are extending this to October 31, 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 in India’s recurring digital payments guidelines,” a Google spokesperson said on Friday.

In August 2019, RBI had issued a framework for processing of e-mandates on recurring online transactions. Initially applicable on cards and wallets, it was subsequently extended to Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions.

The regulator further in a September circular had stated that with effect from January 1, 2022 no entity in the card transaction/payment chain other than card issuers and networks can store card data and any stored data has to be purged.