[zuron7]

The irony is strong with this one considering a lot of Government apps do not work without Google Play Services. Including incredibly popular payment apps like BHIM which was developed by NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India). I know cos I have a phone without Play Services and using Government apps is out of question. Thankfully, there are web alternatives for all servuces

[wtmt]

NPCI, contrary to what the name seems to imply, is not a government company or organization. It’s a consortium of government and private banks (including the likes of foreign banks like Citibank and HSBC). Its payment services are allowed by the RBI. Neither is the BHIM app a government app. It’s an NPCI app.

[zuron7]

Ah, seems that you are right. The government doesn't own it, but sure does seem to have a controlling stake through the Public Sector Banks.

[vram22]

But is that due to NPCI or Google? I had read a while ago that Google was using Google Play Services as a way to enforce that certain things on the platform get done the way Google wants it to be (speaking loosely, do not have the link to what I read), although Android itself is open source (technically).