Google Follows Apple Lead, Paid Apps on Play Store Now Start at Rs. 10

Google is introducing changes to Google Play India to make it more relevant and enticing to developers and consumers. In a move to attract a larger audience, the company is giving developers the option to price their apps as low as Rs. 10 in India.

The ability to price apps as low as Rs. 10 should please both developers, who will now be able to target a wider audience, and Google Play India users, who will now see cheaper apps. Until now, developers had no choice but to either make their app free and charge through in-app purchases, or label their app with a price tag of Rs. 50 or so despite knowing that not as many people would be interested in spending that much money on an app.

In its Google+ post announcing the change in price range (now from Rs. 10 to Rs. 10,000), said developers can adjust the prices of their apps or in-app products for users in India via Pricing; Distribution or In-app Products on the Google Play Developer Console.

The move comes weeks after Apple introduced different price tiers system for its App Store in India. The Cupertino-based company also allowed developers to price their apps to as low as Rs 10. Both the technology giants realise how big of a market they have in India, and how their global strategies aren't essentially poised to work in the world's second-most populous nation.

Google also recently started to sell Google Play Prepaid Vouchers (also called Google Play Gift Cards) in India. These coupons are available in different price denominations that can be purchased against cash. A user can purchase them from offline as well as online store and use them to buy apps, and other things from Google Play. This again won't seem so lucrative in developed nations, but in a country like India where the use of electronic payments is still looked upon with reluctance, it makes a world of a difference to many users.