PhonePe launches Indus Appstore, its Made in India answer to Google Play Store's dominance

Walmart-owned PhonePe, which has been dominating the digital payments market, launched the Indus Appstore on February 21 as its Made-in-India response to the dominance of the Google Play Store.

The Indus Appstore aims to cater to the Indian market by offering over 200,000 mobile apps and games across 45 categories in 12 Indian languages, addressing the linguistic diversity of the country. 

Providing short-video-based discovery feature

The Indus Appstore will provide a short-video-based discovery feature to enhance user engagement in app discovery. Notably, the app store allows developers to choose any third-party payment gateway for in-app billing without imposing any commission fees for using external payment gateways.

This policy is a stark contrast to the fees charged by existing major app stores. Additionally, Indus Appstore is offering zero listing fees for developers for the first year to attract more developers to the platform.

Strategic partnerships and language inclusivity

PhonePe has also announced partnerships with OEMs like Nokia and Lava, which will enable the integration of the Indus Appstore into their devices. The strategy aims to reduce the friction involved in manually sideloading apps on smartphones.

The app store's support for 12 Indian languages apart from English is a significant step towards inclusivity, allowing users to discover and use apps in their preferred language.

Sameer Nigam, CEO and Founder PhonePe added, “Indus Appstore challenges the status quo, ushering in an era of more healthy competition in the mobile app marketplace, which in turn should help create a more democratic and vibrant Indian digital ecosystem. Indus Appstore embodies our commitment to building a truly inclusive digital ecosystem where every Indian user feels at home.”

The company also aims to forge more partnerships with smartphone makers and enhance the app store's features.

Rising concerns over high commission fees charged by behemoths

The launch of the Indus Appstore comes at a time when there is increasing scrutiny over the business practices of major app marketplaces like Google Play. The Indian startup ecosystem has voiced concerns over high commission fees and restrictive policies.

PhonePe's move is seen as a response to these concerns, offering a more equitable platform for developers. The launch also follows regulatory actions by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to curb monopolistic practices in the app store market.

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