Google has made an exception to its policies concerning the Play Store, a day after it pulled MobiKwik for having an ‘ad’ promoting downloads for Aarogya Setu.

The change, which now requires developers to label third-party apps as such, arose after MobiKwik was briefly taken down from the Play Store for containing a link to the government’s Aarogya Setu app without labelling it as an ad.

According to e-mail sent to MobiKwik developers, Google Play Support said the app had violated Google Play's ‘Deceptive Ads policy’, by "clearly not labelling ads".

“Our policies require that apps containing links to external sites or other apps should be correctly labeled, so it is clear for the user,” a Google spokesperson told CNBC-TV18.

But after the confusion over whether a link to Aarogya Setu warranted being labelled an ad, Google has decided create a new label, which will require having an icon depicting an external link.

“All apps in India can promote the Aarogya Setu app while complying with policies,” Google said.

MobiKwik CEO Bipin Preet Singh first brought the action against the app to notice in a tweet.

Hey @GoogleIndia @GooglePlay you removed @MobiKwik app from play store because we had a link to Aarogya Setu app. We were asked to do this by regulators ( @RBI ) and understand it’s in public health interest. You have too much power ! Cc @CCI_India @amitabhk87 @PMOIndia @rsprasad pic.twitter.com/ftv5KIZCAy

— Bipin Preet Singh (@BipinSingh) May 28, 2020

Google, however, said that when apps are in violation, “we first notify the developer and only take action if the violation is not resolved. We act swiftly to help them resolve the problem through our appeal process.”

MobiKwik was restored to the Play Store after it removed the link to the Aarogya Setu app.

But it remained unclear whether apps containing a link to Aarogya Setu can be termed as an ad.

Apps of many financial services companies added a link to Aarogya Setu after the Reserve Bank of India, in a communication on April 15, requested the financial ecosystem to promote the government initiative.

In January 2016, Google told developers that users will start to see the "Ads" label on apps that contain advertising. After this move, developers are now required to sign in to the Play Developer Console and declare whether their apps contain ads, such as ads delivered through third-party ad networks, display ads, native ads, and/or banner ads.

First Published:May 29, 2020 3:17 PM IST