CCI’s INR 936.44 Cr Penalty: NCLAT Refuses To Grant Interim Relief To Google

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has reportedly declined to grant interim relief to tech giant Google on its plea seeking a stay on the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) INR 936.44 Cr penalty on the company for abusing its dominant market position with respect to Play Store policies.

The tribunal directed Google to deposit 10% of the fine before its registry in the next four weeks, as per a PTI report.

The matter has been listed for final hearing on April 17. A two-member bench comprising Justice Rakesh Kumar and Alok Srivastava issued notices to the CCI and other respondents.

Google, like other US-based tech giants, has been facing several legal and regulatory troubles not only in India but in different parts of the world for the last few years. In India, the tech giant had to face back-to-back penalties for alleged market dominance in 2022.

The competition watchdog imposed the penalty of INR 936.44 Cr on Google in October, which was followed by another penalty worth INR 1,337.76 Cr, in the same month, for allegedly abusing its dominant position in Android mobile devices.

It must be noted that earlier this month, the NCLAT also refused to grant interim relief to Google on its plea seeking a stay on the penalty in the Android mobile devices case. 

Besides the fines, the Indian competition watchdog had also directed Google to cease and desist from participating in anti-competitive practices and to modify its conduct within a defined timeline.

Earlier this week, Google reportedly told the Supreme Court that the CCI’s recent antitrust order risks stalling the growth of its Android ecosystem in the country. In its plea to the apex court, the company said that it would have to make major changes to its Android operating system, which has been in place for the last 14-15 years.

Pertaining to the Play Store policy issues, the CCI, after an initial investigation, had concluded earlier that Google discriminated against app developers in its Play Store billing policy.

In November last year, as an aftermath of the CCI penalty, Google paused the enforcement of its policy that required app developers to use its Google Play billing system for in-app purchases in India.

“Following the CCI’s recent ruling, we are pausing enforcement of the requirement for developers to use Google Play’s billing system for the purchase of digital goods and services for transactions by users in India while we review our legal options and ensure we can continue to invest in Android and Play,” the company said.

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