Delhi HC Directs CCI To Probe Startups’ Complaints On Google’s New Billing System By Apr 26

The Delhi High Court (HC) on Monday (April 24) reportedly directed the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to look into the complaints of Indian startups against Google’s contentious user choice billing system before its implementation on April 26. 

This comes a couple of days after the HC reserved its judgement in the matter on April 19. 

“There is no impediment, whether legal or otherwise, in directing the CCI to hear the applications filed by the petitioner under Section 42 and decide it on or before April 26,” a single-judge bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela was quoted as saying by Bar and Bench.

With this, the HC has essentially accepted the plea that sought the CCI’s intervention into the user choice billing-related complaints. The petition was filed by local players under the banner of the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF). 

The order comes a couple of days before the contentious billing mandate comes into effect. The ball now lies in the CCI’s court which will have to take a stance on the matter in a day. 

At the centre of the debate is the tech major’s user choice billing norms which were introduced after the competition watchdog’s October 2022 antitrust rulings which penalised Google in excess of INR 2,200 Cr. The directives also called on the big tech company to make sweeping changes to its India operations after finding it guilty of abuse of dominance in the Android devices market and with regards to its Play Store policies. 

Under the new user choice billing system, app developers are allowed to embed third-party payment processors and would subsequently be charged 4% less commission, in the range of 11%-26%. 

This prompted a backlash from the Indian startups which sought temporary suspension of the service till the CCI probes the matter. Their plea called on the HC to issue directions to the CCI to invoke the ‘doctrine of necessity’ which will allow the Commission to adjudicate the case without a quorum. 

In its petition, the ADIF termed the new system a ‘cloaked version’ of the previous billing policy, adding that the user choice billing system is part of attempts by Google to bypass the CCI’s antitrust directions. The ADIF contended that the US-based tech company is taking advantage of ‘institutional lacunae’ at the CCI citing lack of quorum at the regulator. 

The policy think tank previously also flagged concerns that Google could use all the transaction data flowing into its system post April 26 to push its own apps. The plea also claimed that the new policy projects a hoax of giving liberty to app developers to opt for third-party payment systems while ensuring the market remains vulnerable to Google’s abuse of its dominant position. 

Industry players have also lashed out at the tech major’s new policy. Last week, in conversation with Inc42, People Group CEO and founder Anupam Mittal called Google ‘Digital East India Company’ and added that the tech major is charging ‘lagaan’ from developers.