Global internet giant Google’s Play store rules forced Paytm to roll back a UPI cashback campaign which is legal in India, digital payments company Paytm claimed on Sunday.
The company in a blog alleged that it was arm-twisted to take down its campaign while Google Pay has been running similar cricket-based promotions. Google had blocked Paytm on its Play store following a policy update on September 18, ahead of the IPL cricket tournament, to disallow apps that support any unregulated gambling but restored the mobile app after a few hours after it rolled back the campaign.
The homegrown financial services firm Paytm said that it was forced to comply with Google’s mandate to remove the UPI cashback and scratch cards campaign to get re-listed on the Android Play Store.
“Offering both is legal in India, and cashback was being given following all rules and regulations set by the government,” Paytm said.
The digital payments firm alleged that it was “arm-twisted” by the search engine major to comply with its biased app Play Store policies “that are meant to artificially create Google’s market dominance.”
Paytm in the blog said that Google Pay has started its Tez Shots Campaign which clearly says, “Score Runs to earn assured rewards worth up to Rs 1 lakh” at the beginning of this cricket season itself. No immediate comments were received from Google on the subject. Paytm in its blog said in the Tez Shots game a user can play as many times as they want and earn vouchers that they can unlock at each milestone.
Finally, they qualify for a lucky draw through which they get assured tickets up to Rs 1 lakh with any qualifying payment. For different scores starting from 50 to all the way to 1000 plus they also earn rewards and discounts on different services that they avail via the Google Pay app, Paytm said in the blog.
