Google Play ‘user choice billing’ pilot expands to India

Google revealed in March 2022 that it was working on a pilot programme called “User Choice Billing,” which would allow developers to use other billing systems for subscription models instead of Google Play’s billing system. The company has now announced that the trial programme will be expanded to India as well as four other markets: Australia, Indonesia, Japan, and the European Economic Area.

This pilot programme is for all non-gaming mobile or tablet app developers who are registered businesses. The pilot is open to non-game developers from across the world who want to offer their mobile and tablet consumers in these five areas another method to pay for their apps.

Developers, according to the firm, must pay Google the necessary service fees. When a consumer opts for an alternate billing system, the developer’s service fee is lowered by 4%.

As previously stated, Spotify has already collaborated with Google and will be integrating Google Play’s billing system with their current billing system. Google made this decision in response to widespread criticism of the ways in which its app store does business.

Regarding the User Choice Billing pilot programme, Sameer Samat, Vice President, Product Management, Google said,

This pilot will allow a small number of participating developers to offer an additional billing option next to Google Play’s billing system and is designed to help us explore ways to offer this choice to users, while maintaining our ability to invest in the ecosystem. This is a significant milestone and the first on any major app store — whether on mobile, desktop, or game consoles.

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