Your money is safe, will be back soon on Google Play Store, says Paytm

NEW DELHI: Google has removed Indian financial services app and digital payments major Paytm's app from its Play Store for allegedly violating its gambling policies. It said that Play Store prohibits online casinos and other unregulated gambling apps that facilitates sports betting in India.

After the announcement, while the primary app has been removed from Google Play store, other PayTm apps such as Paytm For Business, Paytm Money, Paytm Mall, and others owned by the company, continue to be present on the Google Play Store.

"Paytm Android app is temporarily unavailable on Google's Play Store for new downloads or updates. It will be back very soon," the popular app, owned by One97 Communications Ltd said in a tweet on Friday. "All your money is completely safe, and you can continue to enjoy your Paytm app as normal," it added.

Google said that it does not allow online casinos or support any unregulated gambling apps that facilitate sports betting. "This includes if an app leads consumers to an external website that allows them to participate in paid tournaments to win real money or cash prizes, it is a violation of our policies," it said. 

"We have these policies to protect users from potential harm. When an app violates these policies, we notify the developer of the violation and remove the app from Google Play until the developer brings the app into compliance. And in the case where there are repeated policy violations, we may take more serious action which may include terminating Google Play Developer accounts. Our policies are applied and enforced on all developers consistently," Google added. 

One of India`s most valuable startups, Paytm, which competes with Google Pay, earlier in September said that that revenue for the fiscal year ended on March 31 increased to Rs 3,629 crore with a 40 per cent decline in losses.