Google Pulls Paytm App From Play Store Over Gambling Policy Violation

Google removed Paytm from its Play store for violating its gambling policies.

Paytm, India’s most valued startup, disappeared from the Play store in India earlier on Friday, after Google found it in violation of its gaming policy in the country, according to a Google spokesperson, who didn’t give other details.

Paytm First games, a fantasy gaming platform, is also not available on the Google Play store, while both the apps are available on Apple’s iOS store.

Paytm confirmed on Twitter that its Android app is temporarily unavailable on the 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 tweeted.

According to a person familiar with the matter, the trouble emerged from an IPL-linked promotion. Paytm was running a promotion allowing consumers to collect cricket cards linked to their spends, this person told BloombergQuint on the condition of anonymity. A certain number of cards would earn them a cashback.

This person claimed Paytm is not the only online platform offering such a promotion. BloombergQuint could not independently confirm this.

Paytm is working to discontinue the promotion and the app should be back on the Google Play store soon, the person quoted earlier said.

Meanwhile, Google, without directly naming Paytm, put out a blogpost on Friday on its gambling policy. According to it, the firm doesn’t allow online casinos/support any unregulated gambling apps that facilitate sports betting. “This includes if app leads consumers to an external website that allows them to participate in paid tournaments to win real money/cash prizes.”

“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,” the blog said. “And in the case where there are repeated policy violations, we may take more serious action which may include terminating Google Play Developer accounts.”

A Paytm spokesperson is yet to respond to BloombergQuint’s queries.