(See Update at the bottom of the post)
Apple today has started displaying the prices for apps on the Indian App Store in Indian Rupees (INR) instead of US Dollars. @Sirajsoft and @arvindVMA both pointed out on Twitter that some apps on the Indian App Store were starting to display prices with a prefix of “Rs” instead of the regular $ sign. Ever since its launch, the Indian App Store has always displayed the prices of apps in USD and the day’s FX rate is applicable when someone purchases an app.
A few apps are already displaying prices in Rupees as seen in the screenshots below.
The change seems to be rolling out inconsistently though, as not all of the apps are showing the correct pricing. While all the apps are now using the “Rs” prefix, some are still displaying the value in USD as it is. So while $0.99 should be Rs. 55, the value is still being shown as Rs. 0.99.
If you share a link to an app published on the Indian App Store, the price now shows up in Rupees in the browser too. I’m going to go ahead and call this a new feature and not just a bug or test, possibly in preparation of the iPhone 5 launched in India early next month. It’s also interesting to note that Apple is using a flat conversion rate of Rs. 55 per US Dollar and decided to use the “Rs” prefix instead of the now official Rupee symbol.
Update: According to @RajaVijayaraman, Apple has added the following local currencies to the App Store today.
- Russian Ruble
- Turkish lira
- Indian Rupees
- Indonesian Rupiah
- Israeli New Shekel
- South African Rand
- Saudi Riyal
- UAE Dirham