Google makes policy change to accommodate CCI directive

Google’s move comes less than a week after the Supreme Court dismissed a plea seeking a stay on the CCI’s October order imposing a penalty on the company. 1337.76 crores for abusing its dominance in the Android market. The CCI order flagged key agreements entered into by Google with developers, and said they violate competition norms, directing the company to make appropriate changes.

In its blog post on Wednesday, Google said it will continue to “respectfully appeal” certain aspects of the CCI ruling, but will also make India-specific changes in the meantime. However, the post states that “implementing these changes to the ecosystem will be a complex process and will require significant work on our end and in many cases significant efforts from partners, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and developers.” Will be.”

In major changes, Google will now allow device manufacturers (also known as original equipment manufacturers) to license individual Google apps for pre-installation on their devices in India. In addition, Indian users will now have the option to choose a default search engine through the “Preferences screen” that will start appearing when a user sets up a new Android smartphone or tablet in India.

In addition, the company said it would offer “user choice billing” for all apps and games starting next month, which would allow developers to distribute apps through the Play Store, which would be similar to Google’s own payment options. In addition there will be payment options to choose from.

While this was not part of the directions of the CCI’s October order, the competition regulator imposed another fine 986 crores on Google in November on this particular issue. The payments issue has been flagged on several occasions by notable startup founders in India including PayTM’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Razorpay’s Harshil Mathur and Matrimony.com’s Murugavel Janakiraman.

Lastly, the company said it has made changes to Android’s “installation flow” for sideloaded apps. This was part of a recent Android update, as part of which the Android platform will be able to flag if sideloaded apps are deemed malicious. So until now, Android used to flash a warning message to users if a sideloaded app was being installed. Now, the platform can also flag if these apps are already known to be malicious.

Sideloading is the practice of downloading apps outside of the Google Play Store, via websites, other app stores, etc. Used to display a message warning Android users that third-party downloads could contain malicious programs on their phones.

The announcement is already garnering positive response from the industry as well. Ajay Data, Secretary General, Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF), said, “This is a great development and a great opportunity for the entire startup ecosystem and the IT industry at large to persuade Google to allow multiple payment gateways in the App Store.” There’s a win.” A startup industry body.

However, not everyone is convinced yet. Rohan Verma, CEO and executive director of MapmyIndia, said, “Google is trying to show that they are making change – but the fact is it is piecemeal, and being done in a way that Google wants – and its results will not go beyond having the grassroots effect of increasing competition.”

MapmyIndia and IndusOS were the two companies that filed suit against Google in the Supreme Court hearing last week. “Even in Europe Google is following this play book of making cosmetic changes. So no, the changes they are proposing are not meaningful enough. They should follow CCI directions in letter and spirit and in a timely manner,” said Verma, adding that all 10 directions of CCI need to be followed in order to have an impact on the market.

Ramesh Kailasam, president and CEO of startup industry body Indiatech.org, also said the move is a “partial step” in the right direction. Even though it opens up third-party payment instruments for user-choice billing,” he said.

He added that the “big issue” was the amount of fees Google charges from third-party payment services as well. Still as high as 26% for third parties, it will remain pointless for developers,” he said.

Questions are also being asked as to whether the changes will be sustainable in the future. Anisha Chand, partner, competition/antitrust, at law firm Khaitan & Co., said it was a “fundamental change” but noted that it was also inevitable. However, he pointed out that since the matter is under appeal at the National Company Law Tribunal. (NCLAT) Right now, “which could continue for at least the next two or three years”, it is unclear whether the changes will remain in place if Google wins.

“If Google wins at that point, we remain unclear on whether these market changes, which everyone else will be used to by then, will be rolled back,” he said.

“It is a welcome move unless there is a hidden caveat. I hope this prompts Apple to do something similar as CCI is also probing Apple,” said Murugavel Janakiraman CEO, BharatMatrimony. Razorpay’s Mathur said the move would give app makers the option to Which payment system to use, and open up opportunities for Indian payment companies to participate in the ecosystem.