Madras High Court Restrains Google From Delisting Disney+ Hotstar App From Play Store Over Failure To Accept New Payment Policy

Justice PT Asha passed the directions Tuesday on an application made by Novi Digital Entertainment, a subsidiary of Star India Private Limited which owns the online video streaming platform- Hotstar.

Hotstar’s application is the latest addition to a series of challenges made against the new billing policy of Google. Based on this policy, Google had fixed service fee at the rate of 11% and 26% in respect of payments made through the Alternate Billing System. The companies have alleged that Google was threatening to remove the company’s apps from the play store, if they did not comply with the new billing policy.

In April, the High Court had also granted temporary relief to Bharat Matrimony app by restraining Google from delisting it. The court had then found a balance of convenience in favour of Matrimony.com, the parent company of Bharath Matrimony.

Case Title: Novi Digital Entertainment Pvt Ltd v Google LLC and others

Citation: 2023 Livelaw (Mad) 202

Case No: A No. 3577 of 2023