Google Friday has been undone for several hours from one of India’s largest virtual pay apps in its online store for violating game regulations, a day before the start of india’s lucrative Premier League cricket tournament.
The IPL, the world’s richest national league, has already been affected by controversy, corruption and match-erging at the center of the stage.
Betting is illegal in India, but the 53-day IPL countdown starting Saturday has noticed a lot of online classified ads for sports sites, which are allowed in many parts of the country.
The paytm digital payment platform had recently introduced a cricket tournament involving money betting and violating Google Play Store policies, the Indian company said in a statement.
“Today afternoon we gained a communication from Google that they are postponing our app because it violates their Play Store gambling policies,” the company said.
However, the app returned to the platform on Friday night after cutting a “refund” feature into “a recently introduced game in the app,” Press Trust of India reported.
“Update: And we’re back!” Paytm tweeted.
Paytm is one of the virtual payment programs in India Photo: AFP / Sajjad HUSSAIN
Android users who downloaded the app previously can continue to use it for transactions this time.
Earlier on Friday, Google said in a statement that it would not allow any app in its store to facilitate sports betting or take “consumers to external websites that allow them to participate in paid tournaments to win money, genuine prizes or money. “
The Silicon Valley giant mentioned Paytm in the statement.
Cricket has a key battlefield in combat opposed to point manipulation: illegal betting on some component of the action, such as the number of problems scored in an over.
The IPL, which takes place in the United Arab Emirates behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic, was affected by a staining scandal in 2013 that resulted in a two-group ban for two years.
Digital payment platforms have seen an increase in demand in India in recent months, and their use doubled in 2020 from the previous year due to coronavirus restrictions, according to consultancy Local Circles.
India’s virtual invoice market is governed by Google Pay, largely followed by PhonePe, with Paytm third.