NCLAT Orders Google To Pay 10% Of INR 1,337.76 Cr CCI Penalty

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday (January 4) directed tech major Google to pay 10% of the INR 1,337.76 Cr penalty imposed on the tech giant by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

Further, a two-member bench declined to grant any immediate stay on the operations of the CCI penalty. The bench said it would pass any order on the matter after hearing all the parties involved, admitting the hearing appeal from the tech major.

In that regard, the appellate tribunal has issued notices to the competition watchdog and listed the matter for hearing over an interim stay on February 13. Google has sought an interim stay on the CCI penalty.

The NCLAT decision comes after Google filed a petition against the CCI order on the tech giant’s abuse of its dominant position across multiple markets in the Android ecosystem.

The CCI order which saw the tech major slapped with an INR 1,337.76 Cr fine, said that Google’s agreements operated in tandem, with the interplay between those apps resulting in many anti-competitive outcomes. 

The competition watchdog suggested some measures to correct the tech giant’s conduct in the market, including allowing sideloading of apps and providing access to Play Services APIs to everyone, among others.

Arguing against the order, Google said that Android has greatly benefited Indian users, developers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), powering India’s digital transformation. The tech major added that the verdict was a setback for Indian users and can make Android devices expensive and vulnerable to security threats.

The tech major also alleged that the competition watchdog had copied several aspects from a 2018 order from the European Commission in its order. In its filings with the NCLAT, there were more than 50 instances of copypasting, ‘word-for-word’ in some cases.

It is prudent to mention that Google was slapped with another penalty by the CCI, worth INR 936.44 Cr, for alleged abuse of dominance within the tech major’s Play Store policies, particularly its billing policies.

Currently, the CCI is also conducting a third investigation into Google’s revenue-sharing practices with digital news publishers, which might lead to another major penalty for the US-based tech giant.

Google has been facing antitrust moves across the world, with the EU imposing a whopping $4.3 Bn penalty on the tech major for abuse of dominance in the Android ecosystem.