CCI Penalty: SC Says Google ‘Contrived Emergency’ By Approaching NCLAT Late

The Supreme Court on Monday (January 16) observed that Google “contrived emergency” in seeking a stay on the penalty order issued by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for its market dominance in the Android ecosystem by approaching the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) very late.

Google filed its application before the NCLAT at the end of December, challenging the CCI’s October 2022 order imposing a penalty worth INR 1,337.76 Cr on the tech giant. The competition watchdog had imposed the penalty on the US tech giant for forcing OEMs to install Google Mobile Suite on each Android mobile device.

Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud told Google’s counsel Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi that the CCI order was passed on October 20, but Google went before NCLAT much later. “These are all contrived emergencies. You could have filed an appeal earlier,” CJI Chandrachud said, as per LiveLaw.

Besides, the CJI also asked if Google was ready to practise the same regime in India as it does in Europe. “Are you then willing to place the same regime which has been put into place in Europe? You reflect on this and come back,” Chandrachud asked, and scheduled the next hearing in the matter on Wednesday (January 18).

Additional Solicitor General of India N Venkataraman, appearing for the CCI, told the bench, comprising CJI Chandrachud, and Justices P S Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, that Google has different standards in India and Europe.

“We are going to show some shocking data. Their grievance that they’re unable to comply with the order within 90 days doesn’t stand because they’re fully complying with the order passed in 2016 in the European Union. 4 Bn Euros fully paid. All these directions have totally complied within Europe for the past five years,” said Venkataraman.

“Standing committee is now going into this, this will now be the part of digital law. The European Union has already held them to be dominant,” he noted. “How can they discriminate between an Indian consumer from a European consumer?”

The Indian competition watchdog slapped two penalties on Google in less than a week in October last year amounting to a total of INR 2,274.2 Cr ($276.37 Mn) for following anti-competitive practices.

Google recently also sought a stay on the CCI’s INR 936.44 Cr penalty on the company for abusing its dominant market position with respect to Play Store policies. However, the NCLAT declined to grant interim relief to the company.

Google, like several other big tech companies, is facing multiple probes across the world. The European Union fined Google in September last year on similar charges of abusing its dominant market position in the mobile phone market.