Google is pausing the enforcement of a policy that requires app developers in India to use its proprietary billing system for selling digital goods, following a ruling by the country’s anti-trust body.

Analysts pointed out that the decision of the tech giant comes with a caveat: the developers would have to use Google Play’s billing system for digital content purchases outside India.

“Following the CCI’s recent ruling, we are pausing enforcement of the requirement for developers to use GooglePlay’s billing system for the purchase of digital goods and services for transactions by users in India while we review our legal options and ensure we can continue to invest in Android and Play,” Google said.

Google had previously set an extended deadline of October 31 for developers in India to integrate apps with its Google Play billing system, which collects a commission that ranges from 15-30 per cent for each sale. The third-party apps charge a commission of around 2 per cent.

“The requirement to use Google Play’s billing system applies for in-app digital content purchases for users outside of India,” Google added.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had slapped a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on the internet major for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies.

“Today’s decision helps protect our revenues. We hope that Google implements this permanently as it’s not good for Indian digital startups - it amounts to digital tax for us,” Murugavel Janakiraman, the CEO of BharatMatrimony Group, which run variousapps that help people find life partners, told Reuters.

Nearly 97 per cent of India’s 600 million smartphones run on Google’s Android mobile operating system, and startups have banded together in the past to say the payment policy hurt their businesses.

With inputs from Reuters