While upholding the CCI penalty, the NCLAT set aside certain directions issued by the antitrust regulator
The NCLAT said that the CCI investigation was not in violation of principles of natural justice
Last year, the CCI slapped a penalty of INR 1,337.76 Cr on Google for abusing its dominant position in the Android devices market
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The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday upheld the INR 1,337.76 Cr penalty imposed on Google by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for abuse of its dominant position in the Android devices market.
However, the Tribunal set aside certain directions issued by the CCI.
The NCLAT said that the CCI investigation was not in violation of principles of natural justice.
The CCI’s direction to Google to not deny original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), app developers and its existing or potential competitors access to its play services Application Programming Interface (APIs) is among the directions set aside.
Besides, the CCI’s direction to not restrict uninstalling of pre-installed apps by the users and allow developers of app stores to distribute their app stores through Google Play Store has also been set aside.
Last week, the two-member bench of chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and Dr. Alok Srivastava Tribunal had reserved the judgement on Google’s appeal against the CCI order.
Google had earlier moved the Supreme Court against the competition watchdog’s order. However, the top court refused to entertain the US-based company’s plea and asked the NCLAT to give a judgement by March 31.
The NCLAT heard arguments from senior counsels Arun Kathpalia and Maninder Singh, who appeared for Google. The CCI was represented by additional solicitor general N Venkataraman and standing counsel Samar Bhansal.
The bench also allowed intervenors Epic Games, MapMyIndia and OSlabs Technology to make their submissions.
In its plea, Google said that the CCI failed to conduct an “impartial, balanced, and legally sound investigation” while ignoring evidence from Indian users, app developers, and OEMs.
Last year, CCI fined Google INR 1,337.7 Cr in the Android devices case. Besides, it also imposed a fine of INR 936 Cr on the tech giant in a separate case related to its Play Store policies.
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