In response to recent regulatory developments in India, we are now offering all developers the ability to offer an alternative billing system alongside Google Play’s for their mobile and tablet users in India. If a user pays through an alternative billing system, the Google Play service fee will be reduced by 4%. Read this blog post and the updated Payments policy for more information.
If you do not plan to provide an alternative billing system, no action is required if your app already uses Google Play's billing system.
Integrating an alternative billing system
In order to maintain a safe and consistent user experience, developers will need to satisfy several requirements. Developers looking to add an alternative billing system in the short term will need to take a set of interim steps while we build APIs that will streamline integration in 2023.
If you would like to offer users in India a choice of an alternative billing system alongside Google Play's, you must complete these interim steps:
- Inform Google by completing the declaration form and accept the Terms of Service.
- Identify the apps for which you will be offering user choice billing using the enrollment form that will be emailed to you after you complete the declaration form.
- Follow trust and safety requirements by certifying PCI DSS compliance and giving users a way to report fraudulent transactions.
- Follow our interim user experience requirements to ensure the choice of billing systems is presented in a consistent way and ensures that users understand the choice they are making.
- Manually report to Google Play the amount of all paid transactions from users in India on a monthly basis until our APIs become available. We will email you instructions after you inform us of your intent.
- Pay an adjusted Google Play service fee for transactions that use an alternative billing system outside of Google Play’s billing system.
Once you complete the alternative billing system declaration form, please refer to the instructions that will be emailed to you. These outline what information you are required to report to Google and what payments you are required to remit for service fees and taxes.
Alternatively, developers can wait to implement our APIs when they become available later this year, which will make it easier to implement and maintain user choice screens, invoicing and reporting. Developers that choose to implement before the APIs are available will be required to switch to our automated APIs once they become available.
If you have any additional questions, you can contact our support team here.
Frequently asked questions
Why are you still requiring Google Play's billing system alongside the developer's?Google Play believes that users should have the choice to use Play’s billing system when they make digital goods purchase from apps installed from Google Play. We built Google Play’s billing system to the highest standards for privacy and safety so users can be confident when they make in-app purchases. Alternative billing systems also may not offer the same protections or payment options and features of Google Play's billing system — such as parental controls, family payment methods, subscription management, Google Play gift cards, and Play Points.
Google Play’s service fee has never been simply a fee for payment processing. It reflects the value provided by Android and Google Play, and all of the developer services we offer, including app distribution and discovery, the commerce platform, developer tools, analytics, training, and more. Visit this article for more information on the service fee.
Alternative billing systems can be used for in-app purchases and subscriptions sold to mobile and tablet users. Please refer to the Payments policy for more information.
Developers must pay Google the applicable service fees. When a consumer chooses to use an alternative billing system, the standard service fee the developer pays will be reduced by 4% For users who select Google Play’s billing system, the service fee will remain as it is today. The service fee for developers who continue with only Google Play's billing systems remains the same, with 99% of developers qualifying for a service fee of 15% or less.
Once you complete the declaration form, we will review your information and send you instructions on how to report your paid transactions and what payments you are required to remit for service fees and any applicable taxes.
Developers will also be required to switch to our automated APIs once they become available.
The service fee is calculated based on the paid transactions from mobile and tablet users in India. You will receive an invoice with a due date and payment instructions.
In the short term, developers will need to manually self-report the amount of paid transactions once a month by the 5th business day of the month. For example, the report for the transactions made in March 2023 will be due April 7, 2023.
Developers that choose to implement an alternative billing system will also be required to switch to our automated APIs once they become available. APIs will seamlessly handle and report transactions made using alternative billing systems.
No, developers can have different prices on each billing system if they choose.
This updated Payments policy will take effect on April 26, 2023. In other words, if you want to offer an alternative billing system for users in India on or after April 26, 2023, you should comply with all the requirements in the Payments policy from the date of your offering.
Yes, developers using an alternative billing system can promote the alternative billing system within their app, but they must also follow our UX guidelines to ensure users understand the choice provided, and have a consistent user experience.
Yes, this program allows developers to use web-based payments as an alternative payment method in an embedded webview within their app. Like other alternative payment methods, these would be subject to the requirements for the program listed on this page, including all user trust and safety requirements, as well as the service fee.
If your app was enrolled in the user choice billing pilot for Indian users before February 22, 2023, you do not need to enroll again through the India program for alternative billing. However, you are required to submit an updated app package enrollment form if you change the alternative billing offering in a country for a given app package.