Google stopped forcing developers to use its payment service

Google LLC made changes to the rules of the Google Play Developer Program and removed the ban on the use of third-party payment systems, reported in the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS).

Thus, the company eliminated the signs of violation of antitrust laws, due to which the supervisory authority in July 2022 gave out Google alert. Then it was found that the company obliged developers who distributed applications through Google Play to use only the Google payment system. Otherwise, the app simply wasn’t hosted in the app store catalog.

“After analyzing the company’s actions, the service found that Google has eliminated signs of violation of antitrust laws,” the FAS said in a statement. “Now developers in Russia can use alternative payment methods.”

At the end of July FAS imposed on Google a fine of 2 billion rubles. for abusing YouTube’s dominant position in the video services market. The reason was the rules of YouTube in the field of content circulation and the functioning of channels. According to the agency, they are “opaque, biased and unpredictable”, which leads to sudden blocking without warning and any justification.

Earlier in July, the world court of the Tagansky district of Moscow ruled to recover 21 billion rubles from Google. in the form of a turnover fine due to repeated failure to remove information prohibited in Russia. If the magistrate’s decision is upheld on appeal, it will be the second negotiable fine for Google in Russia over the past year. In December 2021, the company was fined 7.2 billion rubles.