Google proposes opening Play Store in India to all real-money games

Google has proposed changes to its Play Store and advertising policies for India’s real-money gaming (RMG) sector. This will potentially allow more such apps on the platform. The move comes on the heels of tech major moving the Supreme Court against an NCLT order, which partially upheld the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) ruling that Google had leveraged its dominance in the Android ecosystem.

The CCI has invited public comments on the proposal by August 20.

The broader Play Store access is part of a set of proposed remedies submitted by Google to the CCI, according to a notice issued by the competition watchdog that invited public comments on the ‘commitment offer’. The CCI’s antitrust probe launched in November 2024, stems from a complaint filed by Delhi-based real-money gaming platform Winzo.

As part of its list of proposed fixes aimed at levelling the competitive field, Google said it would allow all RMG apps to be distributed to users in India via Play Store, provided they are “self-declared by developers as permissible online real-money games as per applicable laws/jurisprudence.”

The company also indicated that it may update its advertising policies to allow ads for ‘games of skill’ in India as long as developers furnish certification from third-party bodies that they are not ‘games of chance’ or gambling apps.