Supreme Court Rejects Google's Cassation Appeal, Indonesian Developers Not Required to Use Google Play Billing

The Supreme Court has formally rejected Google’s cassation appeal in a case concerning alleged monopolistic practices related to the payment system in the Google Play Store. With this ruling, application developers in Indonesia now have the opportunity to use alternative payment methods outside the Google Play Billing (GPB) system.

The ruling simultaneously reinforces the sanctions previously imposed by the Commission for the Supervision of Business Competition (KPPU), including an obligation to pay a fine of Rp 202.5 billion as well as changes to application distribution policies on the Play Store.

Google’s User Choice Billing policy now allows developers greater flexibility in payment options. However, Google continues to charge a service fee even for transactions made outside the Google Play Billing system, although the rate is lower compared to the full GPB scheme.

Indonesian developers actually have several alternative payment systems that can be integrated into their applications. The most common options are local payment gateways such as Midtrans, Xendit, Doku, or Faspay, which support various popular payment methods in Indonesia, including QRIS, e-wallets (GoPay, OVO, Dana, ShopeePay), virtual bank accounts, credit cards, and debit cards.

Previously, Google required all applications selling digital products—including subscriptions, in-game items, and cloud services—to use GPB, with commission deductions ranging from 15 to 30 per cent. Applications that did not comply with this requirement risked being removed from the Play Store, leaving developers with virtually no alternative.

The KPPU found that the Google Play Store controls approximately 93 per cent of the market share for application distribution in Indonesia, leading the mandatory GPB policy to be deemed potentially harmful to developers. Google was subsequently found to have violated several provisions of Law Number 5 of 1999 concerning the Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices and Unfair Business Competition.

With the opening of alternative payment options, developers in Indonesia now have greater flexibility in determining their business models and application monetisation systems. This step is also expected to foster healthier competition in the digital ecosystem while reducing dependence on a single payment platform.

For users, there is potential for more payment method choices, which could result in more competitive pricing for digital services.