Billing Policy Case: NCLAT Seeks Google’s Response On Pleas Against CCI Order

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has sought responses from Google on startup’s plea against the Competition Commission of India (CCI)’s refusal to a stay on the Play Store billing policy.

The responses were sought by the watchdog on Friday (May 10) and listed the case for next hearing on May 24. 

The appeal was moved by Kuku FM,  Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) and Shaadi.com, Moneycontrol reported.

Commenting on the matter, Shaadi.com’s founder and CEO Anupam Mittal told Inc42, “… we are happy with the progress, and the courts and authorities appear to recognize that Google & other Big Tech gatekeepers will not be allowed to collect tolls from India’s entrepreneurs by abusing their monopolistic power. The future of our economy is at stake.”

The fresh development comes on the back of CCI’s March order. The order dismissed their interim relief applications that sought a restriction on Google from imposing a fee or commission on developers as part of its updated payments policy.

Back then, CCI stated that complainants — People Interactive India Private Limited (operator of Shaadi.com and Sangam.com), Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF), Indian Digital Media Industry Foundation (IDMIF) and Mebigo Labs Private Limited (owner of Kuku FM) — did not fulfil the necessary criteria for interim relief as outlined by the Supreme Court.

Consequently, Google was left free to delist the apps of the startups involved from Play Store in case of non-compliance with the payments policies. 

This dates back to the delisting of some apps from the Play Store by Google which included the likes of Info Edge-owned classifieds site Naukri.com and proptech platform 99acres among others. 

However, soon after, the US-based tech giant agreed to restore the apps with IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s intervention into the matter. Back then, Google was reported to be mulling a temporary halt on the delisting. 

This latest development comes a day after Google counsel argued before the NCLAT that the INR 936 Cr penalty imposed by CCI on the tech giant was “amorphous and overbearing”. As per the argument, the charges were pressed purely on the basis of assumptions and not proof. The charges did not show any disobedience of norms and regulations by the US-based tech giant but addressed the operation of Google billing system and Google Pay as dominance abuse, ET reported.

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