Competition Commission of India slaps Rs. 936-cr fine on Google
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) continues to crack down on anti-market practices by the tech majors in the country. In a 200-page order, the last from outgoing Chairman Ashok Kumar Gupta, CCI imposed a monetary penalty of Rs. 936.44 crore and issued a cease and desist order and a series of directions, which will prise open Google’s walled garden “Play Store”. The penalty has been imposed for abusing dominant position enjoyed by the company’s Play Store in the country. The penalty of Rs. 936.44 crore has been computed by applying seven per cent on the average of “relevant turnover” for last three preceding financial years 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21. The average comes out to Rs. 13,377.65 crore.
The case pertains to Google’s Play Store policies that require App developers to exclusively and mandatorily use Google Play’s Billing System (GPBS) not only for receiving payments for Apps (and other digital products like audio, video, games) distributed/sold through the Google Play Store, but also for certain in-app purchases like purchases made by users of Apps after they have downloaded/ purchased the App from the Play Store. Further, app developers cannot, within an app, provide users with a direct link to a webpage containing an alternative payment method or use language that encourages a user to purchase the digital item outside of the app (anti-steering provisions). CCI also found anti-steering provisions of Google’s policy to be anticompetitive.
