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Shaadi.com Founder Anupam Mittal Slams Google for ‘Arbitrary and Monopolistic’ Actions Harming Indian Startups

Posted on by darion

Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal slammed Google on Wednesday (August 21), saying the tech giant’s “arbitrary and monopolistic actions” are stifling Indian startups and harming the country’s economy.

“This is yet another of countless examples of Google’s arbitrary and monopolistic actions that are irreversibly affecting Indian startups and the future of our economy,” Mittal wrote on Twitter, calling for intervention by the Competition Commission of India (@CCI_India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (@MIB_India) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (@GoI_MeitY).

Mittal’s post was in response to Aditi Shrivastava, another prominent figure in the Indian startup ecosystem, who has raised concerns about Google’s practices. Shrivastava questioned the lack of a clear escalation mechanism for apps that are blocked from the Google Play Store without a clear reason.

“If Google has banned an app from the Play Store without any reason… what is the escalation mechanism?” Shrivastava asked in a post on X.

Earlier in March this year, after Google faced a fee dispute, Mittal had likened the tech giant to a new ‘Digital East India Company’. Referring to the day when Google removed many Indian mobile apps from the Play Store as a ‘dark day’, Mittal called for an urgent end to ‘Lagaan’ used by Google in the name of fee. The Alphabet-owned company has delisted over a dozen apps, including Shaadi.com, Bharat Matrimony etc., due to the fee dispute.

Expressing displeasure over Google’s action against Indian companies, the Shark Tank India judge wrote, “Today is a dark day for Indian internet. Google has removed major apps from its app store even as @CCI_India and @indSupremeCourt legal hearings are ongoing. Their false narratives and brazenness show that they have no respect for 🇮🇳 Make no mistake – this is the new Digital East India Co. and this #Lagaan must be stopped!”