Google has been fined $161.95 million (Rs. 1337 crores) by the competition commission of India (CCI) on Thursday for harming the competition with its present Android market strategy in India. The Commission also instructed Google to alter its behavior within a certain time frame.
The CCI said that “Google used its dominance in markets like online search and Android app stores to safeguard its programs like Chrome and YouTube in mobile Web browsers and online video hosting.”
The Commission examined Google’s licensing practices for Android and its own mobile apps in this case (like Play Store, Google Search, Google Chrome, YouTube, etc.) and prohibited Google from entering into revenue-sharing agreements with smartphone manufacturers since they aided in Google’s monopolization of the search service to the complete exclusion of competitors.
In 2019, an Android-related complaint was made by two young Indian antitrust research associates and a law student. The Indian action is comparable to the $5 billion fines Google paid to European regulators for pressuring manufacturers to pre-install their apps on android smartphones.
Google has faced similar lawsuits in the past where CCI had penalized Google Rs. 135.86 crores in 2018 for search bias. In addition, the Indian tech market is becoming more competitive, and the American company is being sued for antitrust violations. The competition watchdog is looking into Google’s in-app payments and smart TV business.
The Commission opined that the markets should be allowed to compete on merits and the onus is on the dominant players (in the present case, Google) that its conduct does not impinge this competition on merits. By virtue of the agreements discussed above, Google ensured that users continue to use its search services on mobile devices which facilitated un-interrupted growth of advertisement revenue for Google.
The Commission assessed Google a provisional fine of Rs. 1337.76 crores as a result of its violation of Section 4 of the Act. Google has 30 days to submit the necessary financial data and any supporting documentation.
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