Alphabet’s largest market charges Google $162 million for unfair play
India pursued the lawsuit based on anti-competitive practices on Android
After India’s competition watchdog fined the search giant $161.9 million for anti-competitive practices related to Android mobile devices in multiple markets, Google experienced a significant setback in India where it has invested billions of dollars over the past ten years.
The Competition Commission of India began investigating Google three and a half years ago after receiving a complaint from two junior associates and a law student. The agency stated in a press release that Google demanded that device manufacturers pre-install the entire Google Mobile Suite and required that these apps be displayed prominently.
Out of all the Google markets, India has the most users. 97% of the 600 million smartphones in the country use Google’s Android operating system. Google pledged to invest $10 billion in the South Asian region over the following years. Prior to this, it invested $5.5 billion in Airtel and Jio Platforms, two big local telecom businesses.
The regulator’s report itself generated headlines last year. Citing the report leak, Google sued the regulator in court and condemned the breach of confidence.
Google is coming under more and more scrutiny as governments all around the world begin to be concerned about the reach of technology companies and wonder if that would be detrimental to local enterprises.
Google lost its appeal against the EU’s $4.3 billion fine for abusing its dominance of the Android market to suppress competition.
To minimise their reliance on Google, more than 150 startups and companies in India began forging alliances two years ago. They also thought about launching an app store. In response Google decided to delay the introduction of its new Play Store billing regime in the country.
