Google to ease agreement with phonemakers, allow third-party billing in India in major business revamp

Google is revising its business agreements with phonemakers in India and making a series of other changes in the South Asian market to comply with local antitrust watchdog’s directions.

The company, which was slapped with a $161 million fine by the Competition Commission of India and was ordered to make a series of changes in its business practices, said Wednesday that it will allowsmartphone vendors in India to license individual apps for pre-installation on their Android-powered devices.

The Android-maker will also give consumers the ability to change search engine and use third-party billing options for apps and games purchases on Play Store starting next month, it said.

Android users have always been able to customize their devices to suit their preferences. Indian users will now have the option to choose their default search engine via a choice screen that will soon start to appear when a user sets up a new Android smartphone or tablet in India.

We’re updating the Android compatibility requirements to introduce changes for partners to build non-compatible or forked variants.

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