Google to enforce in-app billing on Play Store apps from September 2021

Google on September 28 said that developers who distribute their apps on Play will have to use the company's billing system for in-app purchases of digital goods, and pay a service fee from a percentage of the purchase. The company, however, said that the decision will not affect a vast majority of developers because only less than 3 percent of apps sell digital goods on Google Play, and of this 3 percent, 97 percent of them are already using an in-app payment system.

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Google is giving the developers who do not use the in-app payment system a year (until September 30, 2021) to complete any needed updates so that their services are not unduly disrupted. Google Play, just like its competitor Apple App Store, charges a 30 percent fee for payments made by an in-app billing system. There was some sort of confusion among developers regarding the service fee in the Google Play billing system, which the company tried to clarify on Monday in its blog post. 

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Google's statement

"We’ve always required developers who distribute their apps on Play to use Google Play’s billing system if they offer in-app purchases of digital goods, and pay a service fee from a percentage of the purchase. We only collect a service fee if the developer charges users to download their app or they sell in-app digital items, and we think that is fair. Not only does this approach allow us to continuously reinvest in the platform, but this business model also aligns our success directly with the success of developers," Sameer Samat, Vice President, Product Management said in the blog. 

Google recently removed Epic Games' Fortnite from the Play store after the developer updated its billing policy and allowed users to directly pay for digital goods using credit/debit cards. Google Play’s billing system is meant to provide developers an easy way to transact with billions of Android users using the method of payment. Google says that the policy applies equally to all apps on the Play store, including the company's own apps.   

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