The pilot programme has been expanded to India, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, and the European Economic Area. Credit: Firmbee.com on Unsplash.

Google has expanded the roll-out of its “Play User Choice Billing” pilot programme to India and several other countries.

In addition to India, the programme has now also been introduced in Australia, Indonesia, Japan, and the European Economic Area.

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This year in March, Google first launched the programme with a small group of developers, including Spotify, in select countries such as South Korea.

From this month, non-game app developers can provide an alternative third-party payment option to users using the programme.

The pilot provides flexibility to users in selecting their payment option whether it is Google’s Play Store billing system or third-party payment.

Developers need to comply with some conditions if they opt for an alternative billing system.

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The developers should be registered businesses, as well as comply with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).

They need to deliver customer support to those who opt for the alternative billing option.

Furthermore, the alternative billing channel should have a grievance redressal for unauthorised transactions.

The pilot was launched following the regulators in South Korea passed a new law, making Google to change the in-app payment systems in Android.

A Google spokesperson was quoted by Mint as saying: “With this next phase of Google Play’s user choice billing pilot, all non-gaming developers can offer an additional billing choice alongside Play’s billing system for their users in Australia, Japan, India, Indonesia, and the European Economic Area.

“We will be sharing more in the coming months as we continue to build and iterate with our pilot partners.”