Google Vs CCI: Big Tech Major Moves SC Against NCLAT Ruling

Google has reportedly approached the Supreme Court (SC) against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s (NCLAT’s) March 2025 order which partially upheld the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI’s) antitrust findings against the big tech major.

As per Bar and Bench, Google has also challenged the Tribunal’s subsequent order dated May 1, which “corrected” the original March ruling and reinstated “two key data-related directives” (mandating Google to disclose its data policies and refrain from leveraging billing data for competitive advantage) issued by the competition watchdog. 

The appeal, which was reportedly filed on July 21, will likely be listed for hearing soon.

As per a separate Economic Times report, the appeal has been filed by Google and its multiple related entities, including Alphabet Inc, Google Ireland, Google India, and Google India Digital Services. 

“We have filed an appeal against the NCLAT’s recent decision regarding the CCI’s order. We remain committed to supporting the growth of the Indian app ecosystem for both developers and users,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement. 

What’s The Bone Of Contention?

The saga traces its origins back to November 2020, when the CCI launched a probe into Google’s billing practices on the Play Store. Two years later in 2022, the competition watchdog imposed a fine of INR 936.44 Cr on Google for anti-competitive practices with regards to its Play Store policies. 

It is pertinent to note that Google was also fined an additional INR 1,337.6 Cr for abusing its dominant position in the Indian Android devices segment. 

In the Play Store case, the watchdog concluded that Google abused its dominant position by mandating the use of its Google Play Billing System (GPBS) for app purchases while exempting its own apps like YouTube from similar commission structures.

The antitrust regulator ordered the company to “not restrict app developers from using any third party billing/payment processing services”, and directed Google to avoid imposing “unfair, unreasonable, discriminatory, or disproportionate” conditions on app developers.

Subsequently, Google moved the NCLAT and challenged the CCI’s order. In March this year, the NCLAT upheld several findings of the watchdog. The NCLAT concluded that the big tech did leverage its dominance in two relevant markets, namely licensable operating systems for smartphones and app stores for Android OS, to promote Google Pay in violation of the Competition Act. 

The NCLAT also upheld the CCI’s finding that Google had imposed unfair and discriminatory conditions on developers through mandatory use of GPBS.

However, the appellate tribunal, in March 2025 order, set aside the watchdog’s orders on denial of market access and restriction of innovation. It cited insufficient evidence of restriction on technical development and Google billing services accounting for less than 1% of UPI market share as reasons for quashing the particular directive.

Notably, the NCLAT also then reportedly overturned several “ex-ante” (preventive) directions imposed by the CCI on Google, saying that the order exceeded the CCI’s powers under the current regulatory framework.

Two months later, in clarification later on May 1, the NCLAT reinstated two directions which require Google to disclose data policies and refrain from leveraging its billing data for competitive advantage. 

Unhappy with the partial relief from the appellate tribunal and the subsequent blow from the clarification, Google has now moved the SC to challenge the order and seek a favourable order.