On Friday, a group of users filed a police complaint against Google’s senior officials, including CEO Sundar Pichai, over the company’s in-app payment system, which requires domestic app developers to pay large fees.
According to The Korea Times, Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty (CUCS) has filed a complaint at Gangnam Police Station in Seoul against Pichai, Google Korea CEO Nancy Mable Walker, and Google Asia-Pacific President Scott Beaumont for allegedly violating the country’s Telecommunications Business Act.
A spokeswoman from the consumer association was reported as stating, “The enforcement of Google’s in-app payment policy has raised expenses, burdening customers and harming artists.”
“App creators have no option but to accept Google’s proposal,” the spokesperson stated, noting that Google owns 74.6 percent of the app store industry.
South Korean firms have hiked prices for Google’s premium content services. The US tech giant plans to ban external payment connection applications to avoid Google’s in-app payment system.
From June 1, Google began imposing a contentious billing scheme in Korea.
According to Yonhap News Agency, several app developers on Google’s Play store are redirecting customers to other URLs for payment to avoid Google’s billing policy, which charges a hefty 15-30 percent fee on in-app sales.
In March, South Korea’s Cabinet adopted a new measure prohibiting app store owners from pressuring developers to use their in-app payment systems.
Nonetheless, in April, Google mandated that all app developers selling digital products and services use its billing system and eliminate external payment connections.
Non-compliant applications could not get updates, and Google warned that non-compliant apps would be removed from the Play market on June 1.
In-app charges for a broad range of content offerings, including webtoons and digital novels, have increased by 15-20% on the Play Store two months after Google’s announcement.
