New Delhi Search engine giant Google was on Tuesday fined for the second time in a week for misusing its dominant market position, with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) penalizing the company. 936.44 crores for its App Store billing policies. The regulator also issued a cease-and-desist order against Google in relation to these policies.
Google allows developers on its Play Store to receive payment for their apps, audios, videos, and games, as well as certain in-app purchases, entirely through its Google Play billing system, the CCI said in a 199- Page directed the company to revise its conduct within three months, the order said.
CCI said Google submitted revenue data with “serious discrepancies and broad disclaimers”; However, the regulator said it calculated the provisional penalty based on company data “in the interest of justice and with the intention of ensuring necessary corrections in the market at the earliest”. “Accordingly, CCI imposed penalty at the rate of 7% of its average relevant turnover 936.44 crore on Google on provisional basis for violation of section 4 of the Act. Google has been given 30 days to provide the required financial statements and supporting documents.”
In an interview, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajiv Chandrashekhar said, “An open Internet is what India expects – that is an Internet where consumers’ expectations of free choice are not distorted by the market power of any company.” – Big or small – foreign or Indian. Openness, which is a free and fair internet, is a firm policy goal for our government.”
CCI imposed fine on Thursday 1,337.76 crore on the technology giant, citing similar abuse of its dominant position in “multiple markets of the Android ecosystem” such as the Play Store. The CCI said that Google was the leader in the markets for smart mobile devices and licenseable operating systems for the market. For App Store for Android Smart Mobile OS in India.
The CCI report said that due to its multiple partner agreements with YouTube, Google was placed at an advantageous position over its rivals in the online video domain.
Google India did not respond to a query from Mint till press time.
The CCI also probed allegations of exclusion of rival UPI apps as an effective payment option on the Play Store. It was found that Google Pay is integrated with intent flow methodology, while other UPI apps can be used through collect flow methodology.
“It was noted that intent flow technology is better and more user-friendly than collect flow technology, with intent flow providing significant benefits for both customers and merchants and a higher success rate with the intent flow method due to lower latency.” is,” said the order.
It further said that developers may not, within an app, provide users with a direct link to a webpage containing an alternative payment method or use language that encourages a user to purchase digital items outside the app, Also called anti-steering provision.
“The CCI order seems insufficient. For one, India has no precedent for dominance in the tech market, which leaves Google to challenge the order. Second, the order challenges Google’s dominance in principle, but lacks in terms of showing practical evidence against the company’s perceived dominance in the market,” said Akshay S. Nanda, a partner at law firm Saraf & Partners.
Shouvik Das contributed to the story.
catch all technology news And updates on Live Mint. download mint news app to receive daily market update & Live business News,