In a shocking development, Google has been fined by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for anti-competitive practices and Android platform abuse. CCI is India’ top watchdog which acts as a competition regulator. CCI tweeted, ?CCI imposes monetary penalty of Rs. 1337.76 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets in the Android Mobile device ecosystem.? Although Android OS is based on an open-source platform, Google manages Android-related applications and all other proprietary software. Original equipment manufacturers use Google’s OS across all their devices by entering an agreement with Google such as the Mobile Application Distribution Agreement (MADA).
Google was fined for ?abusing its dominant position in multiple markets in the Android Mobile device ecosystem.? OEMs utilize Google’s various proprietary applications such as the Google Play Store, Google Search, Google Chrome, YouTube and more. All these applications come pre-installed on the devices and cannot be uninstalled, which gives Google a significant advantage over its competitors. CCI also found Google to be dominant on the relevant markets.
CCI said in a statement, ?MADA assured that the most prominent search entry points i.e., search app, widget and Chrome browser are pre-installed on Android devices, which accorded significant competitive edge to Google’s search services over its competitors.?
According to CCI, Google has argued about the competitive constraints faced from Apple but CCI found that ?Whereas Google’s business was found to be driven by the ultimate intent of increasing users on its platforms so that they interact with its revenue earning service i.e., online search which directly affects sale of online advertising services by Google.?
CCI has issued a hefty monetary fine of Rs. 1337.76 crore as well as a cease-and-desist order against the tech giant from indulging in anti-competitive practices. According to Reuters, Google has declined to comment on the matter.
