SUMMARY
India’s antitrust body, CCI, slapped Google with an INR 2,274.2 Cr (around $275 Mn) in two cases in October 2022
The minister did not share the details of the action to be taken against the US-based tech giant
The likes of Apple and Amazon are also facing anti-competitive conduct cases in India
The Centre is looking to take action against Google after the company was found to have abused its market position by indulging in anti-competitive practices, the Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar told Reuters in an interview on Friday (May 19).
India’s antitrust body, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), slapped Google with an INR 2,274.2 Cr (around $275 Mn) in two cases in October 2022. The cases include abuse of its dominant position in the Android operating system market and pushing developers to use its in-app payment system.
Chandrasekhar told Reuters that such findings are ‘serious’ and cause ‘deep concern’ to India’s government, which will take action against Google.
“The ministry has to take action,” Chandrasekhar was quoted as saying by the publication. “We have thought through it. You will see it in the coming weeks. Certainly, it’s not something that we will leave and push under the carpet.”
To be sure, nearly 97% of India’s 620 Mn smartphones run on Android, and the tech giant counts India as a critical growth market.
However, the minister did not share the details of the action to be taken against the US-based tech giant. Chandrasekhar added the issue “is worrisome, not just for us, it’s worrisome for the entire digital ecosystem in India”.
The in-app payments case is still under appeal with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). However, the tribunal in March said that the CCI’s findings of Google’s anti-competitive practices in the Android ecosystem were correct, upholding the INR 1,337.76 Cr penalty.
Google is looking to challenge the latter decision in the Supreme Court of India. The decision is unusual since the tech giant has already deposited the penalty in its entirety.
While Google has faced the highest penalty ever imposed by Indian authorities on a tech company, the likes of Apple and Amazon are also facing cases against them for potential anti-competitive conduct in India.
Speaking on the matter, Chandrasekhar told Reuters the government was keen to take steps to ensure India’s digital economy is protected. “We don’t want it to be growth in a way that distorts consumer choice or free competition,” he said.
The minister said the government will look into what it needs to do to protect anybody from abusing their market power or dominance.
Chandrasekhar’s comments on CCI orders against Google also come against a backdrop of growing tensions between India’s startup ecosystem and the tech giant, amid allegations that the industry body, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) leaned towards Big Tech.
The allegations came after IAMAI sent its submissions to the Committee on Digital Competition Law (CDCL), set up earlier this year to hammer out a new digital competition law.
