On Friday, Google initiated the removal of applications from 10 Indian companies, which included well-known matrimony app Bharat Matrimony and job search app Naukri, 99 acres and more. This action was taken due to a disagreement over service fee payments in one of Google's rapidly expanding markets.

Indian startups have long been voicing their concerns over several practices of the US tech giant, particularly its in-app fee charges. Google argues that these fees are essential for the growth and promotion of the Android and Play Store app ecosystem.

Friday witnessed the removal of India's Matrimony.com matchmaking apps Bharat Matrimony, Christian Matrimony, Muslim Matrimony, and Jodii from Google's Play Store, as confirmed by its founder Murugavel Janakiraman in a statement to Reuters. Janakiraman expressed his belief that this incident marked a somber day for India's internet landscape.

Murugavel Janakiraman also added, "Our apps are getting deleted one by one. It literally means all the top matrimony services will be deleted."

Matrimonial apps and websites have increased in popularity across India as younger generation no longer rely on traditional matchmaking by parents.

Matrimony.com's Bharat Matrimony application has exceeded 50 million downloads, as stated by Janakiraman. The company has reported a customer base of over 40 million. Alphabet Inc's Google issued notifications regarding Play Store policy breaches to

Matrimony.com and Info Edge on Friday. Additionally, Google Play Store listings confirm the removal of Info Edge's Naukri job search app and 99acres real estate search platform.

Matrimony.com shares fell as much as 2.7% initially but closed up 2.2% on Friday, while Info Edge dropped 1.5% before paring losses.

The disagreement revolves around the attempts made by certain Indian startups to prevent Google from implementing a fee ranging from 11% to 26% on in-app payments. This fee was imposed by Google following an order from the country's antitrust authorities, which required the dismantling of a previous system that charged 15% to 30%.

Google drives the Indian market as 94% of phones are based on its Android platform. However, Google has obtained the necessary approval to either charge the fee or remove apps, thanks to two court rulings in January and February. One of these rulings was issued by the Supreme Court.

The company said, Only 3% of the more than 200,000 Indian developers who use the Google Play platform are required to pay any service fee.

During 2020, Google has removed popular Indian payments app Paytm from their playstore,  due to some policy violation.

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