CCI slaps ₹1,338 cr fine on Google over abuse of dominant position
The antitrust regulator also barred Google from conducting unfair business practices, including offering incentives to smartphone makers for exclusively carrying its search services
The Competition Commission of India on Thursday imposed a ₹1,337.76 crore fine on Google for abusing its dominant position in the Android mobile device market.
The antitrust regulator also barred Google from conducting unfair business practices, including offering incentives to smartphone makers for exclusively carrying its search services.
In a statement, the regulator said that Google has been given 30 days to provide the requisite financial details and supporting documents.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google has been facing increased scrutiny from India’s antitrust regulator. CCI is also investigating the internet giant for allegedly forcing smart TV makers to pre-install certain Google apps and allegedly abusing its dominant position to force developers to exclusively use its in-app billing system and promote its Google Pay service.
An email query sent to a spokesperson for Google remained unanswered till press time.
On Thursday, the regulator said Google’s Android operating system, as well as other licences, gives it an advantage over its competitors to pre-install most prominent search entry points such as search apps, widgets and chrome browser on Android devices. Further, Google also secured a significant competitive edge over its competitors in relation to its other revenue-earning app YouTube on Android devices.
“The competitors of these services could never avail the same level of market access which Google secured and embedded for itself through MADA. (mobile application distribution agreement) Network effects, coupled with status quo bias, create significant entry barriers for competitors of Google to enter or operate in the concerned markets,” CCI said in the order.
According to Statcounter, 95.46% of smartphones in India run on Android OS as of September, while 4.09% run on Apple’s iOS.
CCI’s investigation into Google’s alleged abuse of its dominant position as the key supplier of Android OS licences dates back to May 2019.
Back then, Google argued that Android enabled millions of Indians to connect to the Internet by making smartphones more affordable.
After two years of investigation, CCI concluded in September 2021 that Google abused its dominant position to illegally hurt competitors in India.
The watchdog found that Google was also forcing phone manufacturers to pre-install some of its apps, along with the Android OS.
Though most phone makers are free to develop their own Android OS using Android Open Source Project, getting an Android licence from Google gives them access to Google’s Play services, which includes the Play Store, Security Update, and Play Protect.
Being stripped of the Android licence can be catastrophic for the phone makers.
A case in point is Huawei, which saw its market share crash after Google suspended Huawei’s licence in May 2019 following an order from the US government. From being the second largest global brand, with a 17% market share in the first quarter of 2019, Huawei is now not even in the top five in 2022, according to Counterpoint.
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First Published:20 Oct 2022, 10:05 PM IST
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