So TheMorningContext has written a pretty long story on Paytm-Google issue. I'm sure @akm1410 has done his research but all of his points related to Paytm promo are wrong.

But before I explain, let's back up a bit. Why do App Stores exist? To protect users. That's it.

1/n

Let's take Poker. If 10 users buy Poker chips (in-app purchase) by paying Rs. 10 each, where only 1 winner gets Rs. 80 prize. Here, one user wins & rest 9 users lose their Rs. 10

App Stores want to avoid this scenario of users losing money, and hence restrict gambling apps.

2/n

But if a free game has no cash-in or in-app purchase, it has no risk for users. Paytm's cashback promo had no in-app purchases. Users had no risk.

The prize money of Rs. 5 crore? It was all borne by Paytm as a cashback cost, to serve our own users. Is this gambling?

Nope.

3/n

TMC makes the following points which are all wrong:
- Paytm's app had links to PFG (nope).
- Paytm can't promote PFG (we disagree with this Google Play policy but we complied with this anyway, and it happened 2 weeks back).
- Paytm's no cash-in promo was illegal (nope).

4/n

Let's address these points one-by-one.

On 18th September, Paytm app had zero links or any promotion of Paytm First Games.

TMC failed to mention this, despite them linking to our blog post which explains it all. https://blog.paytm.com/the-story-behind-paytm-apps-de-listing-from-google-play-store-42b3b6f54da0

5/n

Also, TMC fails to question Google Play's policies. Paytm First Games can run ads on Youtube or Google search but not on Paytm. Why?

Nikhil Pahwa of Medianama tweeted about this convoluted policy earlier https://twitter.com/nixxin/status/1306953399334699008

6/n

In fact, I'd argue that this policy only and only benefits Google.

If you can't promote your own cash-in Fantasy app on your own app, where would you then run the ads? Well.. with a player that has 50+ % market share in advertising (which is.. surprise, surprise, Google!)

7/n

TMC falsely claims that all team-making games are illegal on Google Play. I'd suggest TMC to read Gplay's terms. Only Fantasy Games with cash-in wagers are banned, not free team-making games (which ours was).

See these links https://play.google.com/store/search?q=fantasy%20cricket&c=apps & https://play.google.com/store/search?q=fantasy%20football&c=apps

8/n

Lastly, the entire prize money of Rs. 5 crores was borne by Paytm only. Users are making payments to their friends, merchants or making bill payments. There is no wager with user risk here, only cashback from Paytm.

It's exactly similar to Google Pay's Stamps and Tez shots.

9/n

Google isn't a disinterested party in this incident. Their actions were illegal and flouted their own Play Store policies, benefiting their own payment app (Google Pay) and advertising business (Google, YouTube, Doubleclick).

It's time the company pays for its actions.

/fin