SC Set To Hear Google’s Appeal Against INR 1,338 Cr CCI Fines From April 30

The Supreme Court (SC) will reportedly commence hearing Google’s appeal against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s (NCLAT’s) decision to uphold the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI’s) INR 1,338 Cr antitrust penalty on the tech giant on April 30. 

Interestingly, both Google and the CCI have challenged the tribunal’s ruling in connection with the matter. As per Mint, Google’s counsel Harish Salve contended that the case introduces new legal questions for the court’s consideration.

The big tech giant and the competition watchdog have sought four days each to present their arguments. While the hearing in the case was slated to commence earlier, it was reportedly delayed owing to the SC’s busy schedule with hearings related to constitution benches.

The case harks back to October 2022 when the CCI slapped a fine of INR 1,337.76 Cr on Google for allegedly flouting antitrust norms with regards to its Android operating system (OS). In its order, the watchdog ruled that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) ought not be forced to to pre-install Google’s services and called for equal access for all market players.

Noting that Google abused its dominance in the OS market, the CCI said that the big tech major’s dominance in the online search market restricted market entry for competing players. 

The ruling came on the back of an investigation undertaken by the CCI in 2019 following multiple complaints from users and other stakeholders. 

Eventually, the company appealed against the fine before the NCLAT but the tribunal partially upheld the penalty. While noting that Google’s mandates for OEMs to preload the entire suite of Google apps was unfair, the NCLAT partially confirmed the CCI’s rulings. However, it overturned some of the CCI’s directives.

While the CCI has challenged the directives overturned by the NCLAT, Google has challenged the tribunal upholding the hefty fine.  

The development comes a few days after the Madras High Court dismissed the appeals filed by Indian startups against Google for its new in-app billing policy on the Play Store. This case pertained to a separate antitrust directive issued by the CCI in connection with Google’s abuse of dominance in the app marketplace space. The antitrust watchdog had slapped a fine of INR 936 Cr on the tech giant in this case.