Madras HC says Google cannot remove Disney+ Hotstar from its app store

Madras High Court said that Google cannot remove Disney+ Hotstar from its app store in India and should receive a lower 4% fee for in-app purchases. Disney's lawsuit is the latest challenge to Google's policy of imposing an 11-26% service fee on in-app payments which it introduced after CCI ruled against Google's earlier 15-30% fee. 

The new service fee was introduced after an antitrust directive ruled against Google's earlier 15-30% fee and forced Google to allow third-party payments. Companies have argued that Google's new service fee system is just a cloaked version of its earlier system.

The new service fee system supports investments in Google Play app store and the Android mobile operating system, ensuring it distributes it for free, and covers developer tools and analytic services. 

Disney, which runs the popular Disney+ Hotstar streaming app in India, challenged Google's new billing system in a court in Tamil Nadu. Its lawyers argued Google was threatening to remove the Hotstar app if it didn't comply with the new payments system. 

The court in a hearing said Disney should now pay a 4% service fee to Google, while also saying that the streaming app should not be removed from Google's app store.