Google Play removed my app in India, and Google has now rejected my appeal. The app is Chogadia Hisab, a planetary hours calculator I’ve maintained for more than 10 years. It has 700K+ downloads, a 4.7-star rating and no ads.
I found out the way no developer wants to: people in India told me they couldn’t find it in their Play Store. No policy violation had been reported to me. I filed an appeal, and today the answer came back. Google can’t reinstate the app in India “as it’s in violation of local law.”
India is in the top 5 of the app’s userbase, and people there can no longer install it.
That’s the full explanation I have. Below is what the reply says, what I don’t know, what Google’s help pages say about appeals, and what a removal like this means when one store controls how your users reach you.
What Google’s reply says
This is the core of the email from Google Play developer support:
We’ve reviewed your appeal, but we’re still unable to reinstate your app, Chogadia Hisab (Calculator) (com.zaifastafa.chogadiahisab), in IN as it’s in violation of local law. We are unable to comment further on the specific basis for this removal or provide guidance on bringing future versions of your app into policy compliance.
Two details stand out. The removal covers India: the reply says “in IN” and mentions no other country. And it names no law. With no stated issue and no guidance for a future version, there is nothing for me to fix and resubmit.
What I don’t know
I don’t know which law Google means. I don’t know whether the removal came from a government request, a court order or Google’s own reading of Indian law, and I don’t know what in the app triggered it. The app is free and works as a simple reference, so I can’t see what it would break.
I could guess. A guess published under my name reads as a claim, so I’m leaving it out.
There’s one more gap. Google’s help page on appeals covers policy removals, and it doesn’t mention removals for legal reasons at all. I couldn’t find Google documentation on how an appeal works when the stated reason is local law.
What Google’s appeal rules say
That same page sets a few rules that apply to anyone in this position:
- One appeal per action. Google allows one appeal per app removal, suspension or other enforcement action. Mine has been answered, so for this removal I’m out of appeals.
- Four languages. Google says it can respond to appeals only in Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean at this time.
- Reinstatement. The page says Google will reinstate apps “in appropriate circumstances, including if an error was made and we find that your app does not violate the Google Play Developer Program Policies and Developer Distribution Agreement.”
With one shot, the sensible approach is to write the appeal once, in one of those four languages, and include what you can prove: how long the app has been live, what it does, and that no violation was reported.
The EU option
Google’s reply also points developers located in the EU to out-of-court dispute resolution. Google’s Digital Services Act resolution options page covers that route. It says you may want to use Google’s internal appeal first, though that isn’t required. It covers restrictions applied because Google determined that content was illegal or violated a policy. It lists no dispute bodies itself and links to the European Commission’s list of certified ones.
I can’t tell you whether a removal like mine qualifies. If you’re in the EU and you’ve received the same message, that page is the place to start.
What one store listing means for your business
All 700K+ of Chogadia’s downloads came through Play. A listing gives you permission to reach people there, and Google can withdraw that permission for a whole country without explaining why.
If you ship through a store, three habits cost little:
- Check your listing from outside your own account. I learned about this from users, not from a dashboard. A console shows what the platform chooses to tell you, and in my case it reported no violation. Ask someone in each country that matters to you to search for your app now and then.
- Keep a channel the store doesn’t control. A website, a mailing list or a web version. I built the Bohra Calendar as a PWA so people off Android could use it, and a PWA reaches people through a URL instead of a store listing.
- Know what sits on a platform you don’t control. Write down which users or revenue depend on one store, one marketplace or one ad account. It’s the same shape as concentration risk when one client pays most of your bills.
Shop owners carry the same risk when most orders come from a single marketplace or ad account. The platform sets the terms. In a shop you run yourself, the domain, the customer list and the checkout are yours.
Where things stand
The app stays off the Play Store in India for now, and Google’s reply covers India only. I’ll update this post if that changes.
Outside India, Chogadia Hisab is still on Google Play. Anyone, in India or elsewhere, can open the web version at chogadia.synhex.solutions in a browser, no store needed.
If you want a second pair of eyes on how much of your shop or app depends on a platform you don’t control, get in touch.
