Looks like online marketplace Flipkart has finally come to realize that it can no longer ignore the ever-growing uproar against net neutrality.

According to a Times of India article, the company has pulled out of the Airtel Zero service. Surprisingly this news comes just days after Flipkart CEO Sachin Bansal defended net neutrality 'violating' Airtel Zero. First reported by NextBigWhat, this new development has been confirmed by a Flipkart spokesperson.

In a statement to the Economic Times, the company said, "We at Flipkart have always strongly believed in the concept of net neutrality, for we exist because of the internet. Over the past few days, there has been a great amount of debate, both internally and externally, on the topic of zero rating, and we have a deeper understanding of the implications."

Flipkart added in the report that based on this, it has decided on the following:

1. We will be walking away from the ongoing discussions with Airtel for their platform Airtel Zero.
2. We will be committing ourselves to the larger cause of Net Neutrality in India. We will be internally discussing over the next few days, the details of actions we will take to support the cause.
3. We will be working towards ensuring that the spirit of net neutrality is upheld and applied equally to all companies in India irrespective of the size or the service being offered and there is absolutely no discrimination whatsoever.

Last week, Bansal took to Twitter to express his view on net neutrality. Here are the tweets he posted clarifying his stance on #NetNeutrality and defending Airtel Zero:

On April 6^th 2015, Airtel launched 'Airtel Zero,' a platform through which it will offer users free access to certain mobile apps. These apps will be from developers who have signed up with the company. Airtel plans to allow app developers or web service providers to pay money to Airtel so that these apps and services can be accessed by Airtel users for free.

On the surface, Airtel Zero looks like just another value added service (VAS) from a telecom operator, but it is far from it. Airtel's Zero platform is against the principles of net neutrality as under it the company will offer an advantage to certain players in terms of cost of access and will even promote them. These players will most likely shell out a fee to get this favorable position. 

In the last few days, the debate around the concept of net neutrality has really captured the minds of the public. A video, created by AIB, a group of stand-up comedians, explains what is net neutrality? And why it is important?

The idea stipulates that all companies, and especially telecom companies, should treat all data as equal so that it is accessible to everyone at the same possible speed and same possible cost. The idea is central to the internet and the single biggest reason behind why internet is a place that levels the field for everyone and encourages innovation.