Google Play store reverses policy on fantasy gaming, rummy apps in India

Google Play on Thursday said it is conducting a limited-time pilot programme enabling the distribution of daily fantasy sports (DFS) and rummy apps to users in India by developers incorporated in India.

This is a significant move by Google as currently fantasy gaming apps like Dream 11, Mobile Premier League, among many others are banned from the Play store as they violate the platform’s policy on gambling.

“Through this pilot programme, we are taking a measured approach that will help us collate learnings and retain an enjoyable and safe experience for our users,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement. The company said that applications are currently open and the programme is expected to run from September 28, 2022 to September 28, 2023.

It said that interested developers must make a successful application using the application form linked on the blog post about the pilot programme on the Play Console Help site to participate in the pilot and stage an app for review which complies with the pilot terms and conditions.

“Participating developers must have requisite safeguards for a safe and secure user experience as provided in the pilot terms and conditions,” the blog post read.

It is important to note that in addition to all Google Play policies, DFS and rummy apps which are accepted will be subject to terms and conditions of the pilot programme, including the requirement to comply with all local laws and regulations, ownership of requisite licenses and permits where required, and safeguards to ensure the app is accessible to only users over 18 years of age and residing in states where the game is not currently prohibited under local law. Developers are also required to provide users with redressal mechanisms and customer support, Google said.

As part of the terms and conditions, Google said that an applicant’s app will not be purchasable as a paid app on Google Play nor will it use Google Play in-app billing.

This is significant as ET had reported earlier this week that India’s anti-competition watchdog is in the final stages of wrapping up its investigation into the search giant over its Play Store policies.

In 2020, Google enforced a 30% commission for all Play Store transactions, which was heavily criticised by stakeholders globally and in India where it was seen as monopolistic and stifling competition. The CCI began probing the commissions angle and whether Google was blocking rival payment options in its billing process. In 2020, Paytm was taken off from Google Play citing violation of its policy against ‘simulated gambling content’, leading to a major row between domestic internet companies and Google.

Globally, too, Google finds itself at loggerheads with anti-monopoly regulators, most notably in South Korea and the Netherlands. South Korea barred “the act of forcing a specific payment method to a provider of mobile content” while the Netherlands had fined Apple $55 million for failing to satisfy its order to allow dating apps to use alternative payment formats.

DFS are games in which contestants use their knowledge of sporting events and sports people to select or manage rosters of simulated athletes whose performance directly corresponds with the actual performance on ground on sports teams or in sports events.

The outcome of the game depends on how the performances of participants’ fantasy roster choices compare with the performance of others’ roster choices.

Rummy (often referred to as “Online Rummy Games”) is a set of card games in which a player must strategize, memorize the fall of cards, and arrange valid card sets and/or sequences by picking and discarding cards from a closed deck and an open deck, offered in either 10, 13, 21, or 27-card formats, and in accordance with the rules followed for the offline versions of the same formats conventionally played in India.