Paytm announces Mini Apps developers conference to boost India's digital ecosystem

Paytm on Tuesday announced that it is organising a Mini Apps Developers Conference on October 8 in a bid to help app makers drive a digital revolution in India, as well as lessen Indian apps' dependency on Google's Play Store following the tech giant's controversial decision of charging 30 percent commission for digital subscription services.

On Monday, Paytm announced the launch of its Mini App Store — a platform inside the fintech giant's own app that lists applications of other companies. These applications — called Mini apps — are meant to give users an app-like experience, but without ever having to download them separately.

The company said it will list and distribute these mini-apps, within its own app, for free. The developers of these apps can use Paytm's wallet services to charge clients, or enable payments via UPI, net banking, and cards.

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Paytm Mini App Store is largely seen as Vijay Shekhar Sharma's retaliation to Google's 30 percent commission decision via Play Store billing, which was protested by a lot of Indian companies and app developers.

In recent days, Indian app developers, including Paytm, have sought to build an Indian app store ecosystem — like Google Play Store and Apple's App Store — so they could have more autonomy on how to run their apps.

Paytm also recently had a run-in with Google after it banned their app from the Play Store, citing gambling laws-related violation, which the fintech giant contested. In a blog, Paytm called out Google's 'arm-twisting' and 'arbitrary' policies, saying the Alphabet-owned company and its employees were making policies which were over and above the laws of the country.

More than 300 app-based service providers such as Decathlon, Ola, Park+, Rapido, Netmeds, 1MG, Domino's Pizza, FreshMenu, and NoBroker, among others have already joined the mini-apps programme, Paytm said.

Listing on the fintech company's app is expected to give these service providers access to Paytm's 150 million monthly active users.

The conference will include a discussion on why India should control its own app ecosystem destiny, and what the future holds for Indian apps, along with the opening keynote by Vijay Shekhar Sharma.