Search engine giant Google has been fined again and this time faced the wrath of the Competition Commission of India for allegedly abusing its dominant position with regard to Play Store policies. CCI today imposed a fine of Rs 936.44 crore on Google and directed the company to stop and stop unfair business practices. This is another setback for the tech giant in India.
In a release, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said it has also directed to revise its conduct within a stipulated time frame.
This is the second major decision of the CCI against Google in less than a week. On October 20, the watchdog fined the company Rs 1,337.76 crore for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets with respect to Android mobile devices and ordered the internet major to stop and stop various unfair business practices.
Google had termed the fine as a setback for Indian consumers. “The CCI’s decision is a major setback for Indian consumers and businesses, opening up serious security risks for Indians relying on Android’s security features and raising the cost of mobile devices for Indians,” Google said. It added that the company would review the decision to evaluate the next steps.
In early September this year, a top European Union court largely rejected Google’s appeal of a record EU antitrust fine imposed for throttling competition and reducing consumer choice through the dominance of its mobile Android operating system. But rejected. The General Court of the European Court of Justice mostly upheld the 2018 decision of the EU Executive Commission, which fined Google more than 4 billion euros (USD 3.99 billion).
(with PTI inputs)