Google‘s decision to delist startups and smaller homegrown applications and players from the Play Store for non-payment of charges for hosting them is against the spirit of the ‘Make in India’ program, and is also against the government’s approach to fostering innovation, an Indian telco lobby body said Tuesday, adding that it is ironical that the same large-traffic generators (LTGs) have opposed telecom operators’ demand for a fair-share charge, IANS reported.

“Ironically, these same LTGs vehemently oppose the proposal for a fair-share contribution for the additional costs borne by the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) for carrying their disproportionately large traffic and provisioning the increasingly demanding infrastructure required to deliver so,” S.P. Kochhar, Director-General of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said in a statement.

Delhi-based COAI represents incumbent telcos Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea.

 “Moreover, the LTGs’ advocates contend that this fair-share charge would deter small players/startups from being able to operate on the network,” Kochhar said.

 He clarified that telcos have reiterated that smaller players, startups, and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that generate low traffic would not be required to pay the fair-share charge. Instead, the top four to five LTGs which generate mammoth traffic volumes would have to contribute to telcos to address the rising network costs. Delhi-based COAI represents incumbent telcos Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea.

“Moreover, the LTGs’ advocates contend that this fair-share charge would deter small players/startups from being able to operate on the network,” Kochhar said.

He clarified that telcos have reiterated that smaller players, startups, and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that generate low traffic would not be required to pay the fair-share charge. Instead, the top four to five LTGs which generate mammoth traffic volumes would have to contribute to telcos to address the rising network costs.

Google on March 1 booted applications by 10 local developers, citing non-compliance with its billing policies. To this extent, union telecom and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and the minister of state for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar held a meeting with the representatives of startups and Google on Monday to find a long-term solution.

Vaishnaw said Tuesday that Google has agreed to restore delisted apps on its app store and will work on a solution to address the contentious payment issue, as per a PTI report. “We believe Google and the startup community will be able to arrive at a long-term solution in the coming months,” the minister was quoted as saying by the news agency.

The delisted apps included Info Edge India’s Naukri, 99acres, Shiksha; People Interactive’s Shaadi; online dating platform TrulyMadly; podcast app Kuku FM; and online video streaming platform Altt, among others, but are now back on Play Store.

“It is rather surprising that these LTGs, which are generally global corporates based in foreign countries, are ready to evict non-paying small businesses as they expect the “immense value” that their platform provides to the apps, themselves prefer to enjoy a free-ride over the TSPs’ networks, while profiting heavily from them,” Kochhar said.

He added that these LTGs continue to make misleading claims that the proposed fair-share charge would hurt the startups, MSMEs, and smaller players and constrain innovation, “which is contrary to the truth”.

Telcos have been pressing LTGs for a fair-share charge, which they say, will help them address rising network costs amid the upsurge in data consumption brought about by the fifth-generation networks – a proposal that has been vehemently rejected by technology companies, as well as, over-the-top (OTT) players.