Digital payments and mobile wallet platform Paytm has been pulled from the Google Play Store for violating Google’s gambling policies. In an update on Friday, Google said that it doesn’t allow online casinos or support any unregulated gambling apps that facilitate sports betting. This comes after Paytm's gaming arm Paytm First Games (PFG) was gearing up for fantasy cricket ahead of the Indian Premier League.
Paytm recently launched the ‘Paytm Cricket League’ on the main app where users could get player stickers after each transaction, collect them and receive Paytm Cashback.
According to Google, even if an app leads consumers to an external website that allows them to participate in paid tournaments to win real money or cash prizes, it is a violation of its policies.
Soon after the app was taken down, Paytm tweeted saying the Android app is temporarily unavailable on Google's Play Store for new downloads or updates. "It will be back very soon. All your money is completely safe, and you can continue to enjoy your Paytm app as normal," it said.
Paytm said in a statement that it received communication from Google on Friday afternoon that it is suspending Paytm app because it believes this to be a violation of their Play Store policies on gambling. The Paytm Android app has thus been unlisted from Google’s Play Store and is temporarily unavailable to users for new downloads or updates.
“While it is clear that all activities on Paytm are completely lawful, we have temporarily removed the cashback component in an effort to meet the Play Store policy requirements,” Paytm said in a statement.
“We continue to work with Google to restore the app. We assure all our users that their balances and linked accounts are 100% safe. Our services are fully functional on all existing apps and you can continue enjoying Paytm like before,” it added.
This comes a day ahead of the Indian Premier League, a period which is set to see the fantasy gaming market surge with cricket fans betting on their favourite players, creating fantasy teams as offered by several gaming apps in the country.
Ahead of the IPL, Paytm’s gaming arm Paytm First Games has announced Sachin Tendulkar as the brand ambassador of the platform and also said that it set aside Rs 300 crore to spend on marketing and promotions. In April, Paytm First Games had announced that it had had 5 million downloads during the lockdown. At the time, it said it had half a million daily active users.
In the fintech space, Paytm was reportedly the sixth-most downloaded app in August, with 6.7 million people downloading the app. It reportedly has over 450 million users overall.
Paytm First Games reportedly has over 50 games, with fantasy sports being most popular. As per reports, it has over 80 million users with the majority of them from smaller cities and towns.
Google said that its policy is in place to protect users from potential harm.
“When an app violates these policies, we notify the developer of the violation and remove the app from Google Play until the developer brings the app into compliance. And in the case where there are repeated policy violations, we may take more serious action which may include terminating Google Play Developer accounts. Our policies are applied and enforced on all developers consistently,” the Google statement further added.