Relief to Disney+ Hotstar from Madras HC in Google billing matter

The Madras High Court (HC) has prohibited Google from delisting Disney+Hotstar streaming mobile app from its app store, The Economic Times (ET) has reported. This comes as a sigh of relief to Novi Digital Entertainment, the entity that owns the Disney+ Hotstar application. Earlier, Novi had appealed against Google Play Store’s new billing policy.

Declaring its interim order, the Madras HC directed Novi Digital, a subsidiary of Disney-owned Star India to pay a four per cent commission to Google for downloads through the Play Store.

Notably, Novi Digital is the fifteenth company to have challenged Google Play Store’s New billing system, the newspaper reported.

Apart from Novi Digital, Matrimony.com, People Interactive, Info Edge India, Arha Media and Broadcasting, Primetrace Technologies, Cold Brew Tech, Mebigo Labs, Crescere Technologies, Verve Mobile, Catchup Technologies, Sorting Hat Technologies, Alt Digital Media Entertainment, Nasadiya Technologies, and Ananda Vikatan Digital have also gone to courts, the ET report said.

Novi Digital has not released a statement on the court order. Senior advocates Mukul Rohtagi and Satish Parasaran represented the company in the high court. Business Standard