Leading digital payments player Paytm said on Monday that it has reinstated its cashback feature on UPI payments for in-app promotion of the Indian Premier League with tweaks to pass Google’s Play Store policy.
The Noida-based startup had withdrawn the said feature earlier this month after its app was delisted from Google’s Play Store as the tech behemoth had taken the view that it was in violation of its anti-gambling policy. Paytm was vocal about its displeasure terming Google’s action to take down the app as “arbitrary” and “biased.”
“While we remain firm in our stance on the action taken by Google, we have made a few changes to our promotions so that our cricket celebrations with you continue uninterrupted,” Paytm said in a blogpost released on Monday.
“The essence of ‘Paytm Cricket League’ remains the same — you get surprise Cricket Player Stickers on each transaction, and earn cashback…” it said.
According to sources aware of the matter, the US-based tech giants had flagged Paytm’s app as its cashback feature led customers to the website of Paytm First Game – a fantasy gaming platform – which Google deemed as a violation.
Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma in an interview with ET refuted these allegations and accused Google of being “biased” and “singling out” Paytm while other payment apps including Google Pay had similar cashback features, he said.
Sharma also voiced concerns of monopoly risks involved in Google’s move as he believed it was done without regulatory consultations or in keeping with Indian laws.
Sharma and Paytm’s discontent against Google’s controversial move resonated with several ecosystem players, including rival PhonePe’s CEO Sameer Nigam, who sided with the Noida-based startup to criticise Google.
“Offering cashbacks and vouchers alone do not constitute a violation of our Google Play gambling policies. Our policies don’t allow online casinos or support any unregulated gambling apps that facilitate sports betting, including daily fantasy sports in India,” a Google spokesperson had earlier said.
Paytm’s app was relisted on Google’s Play Store after about seven hours on September 18 after the payment company reluctantly agreed to remove the scratch-card based cashback feature.
“Our users can be assured that Paytm has never been involved in anything that can be considered betting or gambling,” the Alibaba and Softbank-backed payments and financial services giant said on Monday “We believe that such arbitrary actions and accusatory labelling go against the laws of our country and acceptable norms of fair competition by arbitrarily depriving our users of innovative services.”
The new cashback feature now allows players to “collect” player stickers on UPI payments and redeem them for cashbacks, Paytm explained in its blog.
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